Secret Admirer
by SugarDee
Summary: After the night they spend together in the library, he realises that he might like her more than friends. But he's not ready to say it to her yet. With the help of his two friends, will he be able to tell her in the end? NOW COMPLETE! EPILOGUE IS UP!
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: It's my first attempt writing this pairing, along with James and Albus. So I hope you enjoy this. Oh btw, this is the story that's always interrupted by the other stories._

_Oh, and there will be several chapters but there won't be many. I wanted to put it in 1 big chapter, but decided against it since I haven't even reached half of the story and there are already two-thousand-something words._

_**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to JK Rowling._

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CHAPTER 1

"Mind if I sit here?"

He looked up from his parchment to find his friend standing before him with a bag in one hand and a pile of books in another. He wondered how her little hands could handle a heavy load.

"Everywhere else is full."

Scorpius smiled and motioned her to sit right across him. "Haven't finished your homework yet?" he asked as she placed her things on the table quietly. "Wow, that's a first."

"Oh shut it, Scor," she replied, taking a seat. "I actually have finished every work for the week. I am here because I have to reread the homework due tomorrow."

He grinned. "You are just like your mother."

Rose chuckled. "If I were my Mum, I would have finished every work due next _month_ by today." She sighed. "It's sometimes quite scary when I see her working so late at night that she forgets to have dinner. My Dad usually leaves her be, but of course he couldn't just stay still. He often stays up with her until they go to bed together." Rose looked up and realised what she'd been babbling about. "Oh sorry, Scorpius, I didn't mean to interrupt you from doing your work."

"That's all right," said Scorpius, brushing it off with his hand. "I need a distraction, anyway." He stretched in his seat. "I've been in the library for a _really_ long time and I still have loads to do."

"Do you need some help?"

"I thought you had to reread your work."

"Multitasking is one of my specialities, Scor," said Rose, smiling at him. "So don't worry about me."

"Who says I do? I'm worried that my work will have the wrong information," he joked, earning him a gentle whack on his hand.

They finished earlier than Scorpius had thought at first. But it was still rather late for students like them to roam around the halls after midnight. Thankfully though, they didn't get caught by anyone on their way to their own dorms.

"Thanks for the help, Rose," said Scorpius just before they parted. "Without you, I might have finished tomorrow evening."

"Don't exaggerate. I'm sure you'd have finished by tomorrow afternoon," she joked with a grin. "Well, I'm glad to help. So you're welcome."

Scorpius smiled. "I'll see you in the morning."

Rose nodded. "Good night, Scor," she said before disappearing to her dorm.

"Night, Rose."

When he was on his bed that night, Scorpius couldn't go to sleep immediately. He just kept staring at the ceiling, recounting what happened in the library just now. He smiled as he remembered the time when Rose suddenly started rambling about her family. He recalled how her eyes lit up when she mentioned about them, or how proud she sounded when she talked about her brother, or how beautiful she looked tonight.

_Wait, did I just say she's beautiful?_

His heart started to beat faster; so hard that he's afraid his dorm mates could hear it. Scorpius looked around cautiously when he realised that he was worried for nothing as none of his friends were awake. He let out a deep breath and placed his head on his pillow like before. Hoping that he could get the rest he'd been asking for, he closed his eyes.

When he woke up on the next day, he was alone in the room. All his dorm mates had gone without even waking him up.

_Some friends they are._

Scorpius wasn't exactly late for his breakfast, but he only had a half hour before his first class started. So he ate as fast as possible, attracting attention from his friends, including Rose. He barely noticed that though, no matter what she said to him. He suddenly choked on his drink.

"Calm down, Scor," one of his friends, Albus, said as he patted his back gently. "You've got plenty of time."

He rolled his eyes. "Well I should have if I've got up earlier. Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Sorry about that," said Albus, "But I had a feeling that you might hex me if I did. I know what time you got back from the library last night. What took you so long? The homework wasn't that hard, was it?"

"It wasn't but there were a lot to do," answered Scorpius, before he took a sip of his pumpkin juice slowly. "If Rose hadn't come and helped me out, I wouldn't have got it done on time."

He drew even more attention because of that last sentence.

_Me and my big mouth._

"I thought you finished everything, Rose?" asked Albus.

"I did but I had to do a last-minute check," answered Rose calmly.

"Even if you did get help," Albus looked at Scorpius, "it still doesn't explain why you returned so late."

"Well, we also had a little chat after my homework was done."

"Are you sure it's only a little chat? Not a secret meeting in a broom closet?" This time, the question came from Rose's other cousin: James.

"James!" both Rose and Scorpius exclaimed with flushed faces.

James just smirked, finishing his last sip of his drink. He got up and walked out of the Great Hall, not forgetting to tousle both of Rose and Scorpius' hairs before that. He waved his hand just before he disappeared out of view.

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_A/N: So how's it so far? I've already done the 2nd chapter, so you won't have to wait so long for the next one. Well, don't forget to review._

_Til next time.._


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Wow, I never knew that people liked the last chapter so much that I have 12 story alerts. Too bad though, only 2 reviews so far. Well anyway, this is chapter 2. For those who have been waiting, thanks for being patient enough. This is for you all! Enjoy yourselves._

_**Disclaimer**: All characters belong to JK Rowling._

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CHAPTER 2

As Scorpius had the same schedules as Rose did, he always spent some time with her in the library, doing some work assigned to them. Albus sometimes went along.

He had always thought that Rose might be just like her mother – study first before anything else. But Merlin, was he wrong. She's more fun that he thought she would be. She was the first one who suggested that they take a walk if they got stuck in one problem. She was the first to say they should get something to eat after they finished the work. She was the first to say they should stop and continue again the next day.

Every time they saw each other before going to the library, Scorpius' heart started to pound faster. The way she smiled, the way her eyes lit up, the scent of her hair – he noticed everything now.

_I think I'm falling for her._

"You're drooling, mate."

The voice of James startled him so much that Scorpius jumped from his seat. "Did you have to do that?" he asked, placing his hand on his chest, heart beating quickly. The intruder just grinned as Scorpius looked at him. "What is it?"

James smiled even wider. He took a seat in front of his friend. "You fancy my cousin, don't you, Scor?" Before Scorpius could even open his mouth, he interrupted, "No, that wasn't a question. And you're not allowed to deny it because I could see the way you stare at her."

"What? I wasn't staring at her."

"I told you not to deny it."

"But I thought that I wasn't allowed to deny that I fancy her." As soon as he realised what he had just said – thankfully not loud enough to be heard by people around them – he closed his eyes and hung his head. He placed his hands on his face, hoping his friend couldn't see how red his face had turned. "Fine, I admit that I _do_ fancy her," he mumbled. "But you are _not_ to tell anyone of this." Scorpius looked up to see him smiling innocently. He hung his head again. "Oh, who am I kidding? Of _course_ you will tell everyone, especially her since you are cousins."

"Am I that unreliable?" said James, looking disappointed. "Just because I like to tease people, doesn't mean that you can't trust me. I won't tell anyone." Noticing that Scorpius was not going to look up, James continued, "Besides, everyone in the whole school already knows about it."

Scorpius looked up suddenly. "Even her?"

"I don't think so. She's too oblivious about it what with her work and such."

Scorpius narrowed his eyes. "Aren't you one too?"

"I may have poor timing, but I still notice things. An example will be your case."

He buried his face on his hands again. "Then it's obvious. No wonder people know about it. Even _you_ see it."

"Hey, I resent that!"

"What are you two talking about?"

Both James and Scorpius looked up to the speaker.

"Al, take a seat here," said James to his brother, pushing him to the chair beside him. "You know that Scorpius fancies our cousin, don't you?"

"If it's Rose you're talking about, then yes I do," he answered before looking over to the friend in front of him. "Everybody knows about it, Scor. Except her, of course."

Sighing, Scorpius asked, "How do you two know that she doesn't know anything about it?"

"If she did, she would have done something."

"Example?"

"Maybe she'll say that she fancies you too."

Scorpius narrowed his eyes once again. "How do _you_ know that she does?"

"She stays up late with you every night in the library."

"And she helps you with your homework," added James. "Scor, she doesn't help me with mine anymore since that first night she spent with you in the library." He put up a hand in front of him, noticing Scorpius would disagree. "I haven't finished yet. She's got her Mum's brain so she's automatically the brightest witch of all ages. Okay, the second since Aunt Hermione takes the first place. But you got the idea: that cousin of ours knows everything."

"Yes, but doesn't she help everyone with their homework?" he asked. "Well, everyone but James."

Albus sighed. "Yeah, but she doesn't stay up late with them, does she? She helps us in the afternoon while she reserves the evening for you." He paused, resting his head on his hand, elbow on the table. "You still need more hints? She always asks where you are when she sees me first. She always talks about you whenever you're not around. She –"

"Okay fine, I get it. No more, please," interrupted Scorpius, blushing. He looked away from the two friends sitting across him only to find himself staring at the person they had been talking about. "So what do you reckon I should do?"

"Be a Gryffindor and declare your love to her," James suggested.

"No, I'm not brave enough."

"Well, just let things flow," said Albus. "Maybe she'll do it first."

"Or someone else will," the older brother said. "Just do something that shows that you fancy her." James placed his hand on Scorpius' shoulder. "Don't let her get snatched away, mate. Every bloke here fancies her. Well, except us Potters."

"And Weasleys," added Albus.

"Who, by the way, will all come and get you if you ever hurt her in any way possible."

Scorpius just nodded, slightly scared knowing that many people would come and murder him if he ever did something to her. He would just have to be careful.

James grinned, noticing the look on his friend's face. "Now that you know the consequence of fancying our favourite cousin, it's time."

"Time for what?"

"To tell her, of course."

Scorpius widened his eyes. "I'm not going to tell her now. Maybe later, but not right now."

"Fine," said James, dramatically looking away and sighing. "I'll tell her."

"What?!" exclaimed Scorpius, attracting attention from the people around those three. He then dropped his volume down. "No! You of all people can't tell her!"

"Why not?"

"Because I, myself, will tell her," he answered. He looked towards Rose. "But not right now."

"What are you going to do until then?" asked Albus.

Scorpius just shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't tell me you're just going to stay here, admiring her from afar? Because if you do –"

Albus suddenly exclaimed, "That's it!" He then looked at both his brother and friend, eyes darting from one person to the other. "Since Scorpius doesn't want to tell her now, why don't you," his green eyes landed on the person sitting in front of him, "be her secret admirer?"

"Great idea, Al," said James, nodding his head. "You can give her anything without her knowing. And she will definitely accept it."

Scorpius narrowed his eyes. "How would you know? What if she chucks it to some rubbish bin?"

"Of course she won't, mate. Our cousin is too nice to do that."

"Yeah, but you have to remember one thing." With a serious face, Albus motioned them to lean closer. "Don't give her anything when she's in a bad mood. You don't want to know what she'll do."

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_A/N: Don't forget to review. Til next time.._

_P.S: By the way, you're gonna have to wait maybe a bit longer than a week for the next chapter to be finished. I'm stuck at the moment and kind of busy with my assignments. Easter break is coming soon, hopefully I can update on that week. Keep your fingers crossed!_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I am really sorry about the long wait. I had four assignments due this month - actually there's one more left - so I couldn't continue this on my Easter break a few weeks ago. Anyway thank you for those who have been patient enough. Well without further ado, this is chapter 3. Enjoy!_

_Oh just a bit warning: the ending in my opinion is a bit off. Sorry.._

_**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to JK Rowling._

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CHAPTER 3

"Morning, Scor!" greeted Rose when she spotted him eating alone at the Great Hall. "Aren't you early this morning?" she said with a smile on her face, taking a seat across from him.

"Good morning, Rose!" he replied with also a smile on his face. "How are you this lovely morning?"

Rose tilted her head, looking at him as though she's talking to someone else. But she decided to answer his question, "I'm fine, how are you?"

"I'm fantastic, thanks for asking."

She laughed. "Had a really good sleep, then?" she asked while pouring some pumpkin juice into her goblet.

"What made you think so?"

"Well for one, you're eating here alone which means you got up really early without waking Albus. Second is that you just asked me how I was this lovely morning. And you said you're fantastic," she said before taking a sip of her drink. "So I reckon you had a really nice sleep." Rose suddenly smirked. "Or you've seen someone that caught your eye today."

_You have no idea_, thought Scorpius. "Well all I can tell you is that I _did_ have a really nice sleep last night. As for the other one you mentioned," he then shook his head, "it's a secret."

Rose widened her eyes. "Why? Is it because I know this someone? Who is this lucky girl?"

Scorpius just grinned noticing how enthusiastic she became. "I'm still not telling even if you beg me."

She pouted her lips. "Come on, Scor. Just tell me who this girl is."

"Why do you want to know? And what gave you the idea that someone caught my eye? I didn't say that."

"I want to know because I want to make sure that the girl is perfect for you."

He inwardly snorted.

"And for the second question: you didn't exactly deny it. So I really think someone _did_ catch your eye." Rose leaned closer to him, causing his heart to pound faster. "Who is this girl?"

"What girl?"

Scorpius had never felt more relieved when he heard the voice of his friend. He let out his breath as he motioned Albus to sit next to him.

"Your friend here fancies some girl and he refused to tell me who it is."

"Really?" asked Albus, chuckling. He abruptly stopped when Scorpius kicked his foot and glared at him. He cleared his throat. "Err, did he tell you that?"

"Well, not really." Rose immediately help up her hand, knowing full well that her cousin was going to interrupt her. "But he's acting really weird today."

"What's so weird about asking how you are?"

She continued, ignoring Scorpius' question, "He woke up earlier than me, he asked me how I was this _lovely_ morning, and when I asked him how he was, do you know the answer?"

"What did he say?" prompted Albus, looking really interested.

"He's fantastic," she answered, causing Albus to laugh loudly. "Don't you think it's a bit suspicious?"

Scorpius just rolled his eyes and continued his deserted breakfast. He then punched Albus on the arm as he realised that Albus couldn't seem to stop laughing.

"OWW!! All right, I'll stop laughing!" Albus' left hand went to rub the arm that was the victim of his friend's brutal attack. He then looked at his cousin. "Rose, it might just be because he's had a really nice sleep or dream last night."

It was Rose's turn to roll her eyes. "Even if he did –"

"I _did_!"

"Even if he did, he wouldn't say fantastic," Rose had once again ignored him. "Fantastic is too big for an answer to a question like that."

Albus then started filling up his plate with food and his goblet with some juice. "Why do you want to know who it is, anyway? If someone _did_ catch his eye." He suddenly looked up, his right hand stopping in mid-air from reaching for his spoon. "You're not jealous, are you?"

"I am _not_!" exclaimed Rose, her face blushing like a tomato.

Albus and Scorpius, despite himself, snorted.

"Oh, shut it," she mumbled, joining her cousin to fill up her plate. "You both know why I want to know."

"No, we don't actually."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Well if you must know, I'm looking after you, Scor."

"Why?"

"We're best friends, aren't we? Best friends look after each other."

Scorpius looked really disappointed after he heard the words 'best friends'. But he quickly smiled as Rose looked up at him. "Thanks, Rose."

"You're welcome," she replied with a beautiful smile, melting him. She then began eating her breakfast, chatting with her cousin once in awhile. All Scorpius did was take a sip on his juice, just listening to what they were talking about.

Or maybe he wasn't listening at all. He's just staring at his goblet and occasionally at the girl sitting in front of him.

"Let's go, mate."

Scorpius looked up, startled. _Yes, I didn't hear anything they said_. "Where are we going?"

"Our class is starting in a few minutes, Scor," answered Rose, her eyes narrowed.

He looked around to see that almost every table was empty. He must have been daydreaming about ... _wait, what was I daydreaming about? I don't even remember_. He shook his head and stood up with his bag on his hand.

"You really _are_ weird today," Rose muttered before going to her class by herself. "See you two in class."

As soon as she was out of view and hearing range, Albus turned to his friend. "You didn't listen to a word we were saying, did you Scor?"

Scorpius just shook his head and smiled. "Sorry, mate," he said before walking away, Albus following not too far behind, "What were you two talking about?"

"Just about our Christmas break. Oh which reminds me," he turned to look at Scorpius, "Do you think you can come to the Burrow for a day or two?"

Scorpius took a glance at his friend before looking back in front. "You really think the whole family doesn't mind me there?"

"Of course they don't. The more, the merrier." Albus paused. "Besides, I'm sure Rose really wants _her_ family to get to know you better."

His face turned red. Clearing his throat, he asked, "How'd you know?"

Albus chuckled. "She kept looking at you whenever one of us mentioned the Burrow or Christmas. Of course you didn't notice that since you were so engrossed in your drink."

"And that's the only reason why you're so sure she wants me to come?" As a response, his companion just nodded, causing Scorpius to roll his eyes. "That doesn't make any sense." He then mumbled, "She didn't even tell me about it."

"Well I just told you," said Albus who then realised that Scorpius' face had turned even redder. "Oh, you want _her_ to tell you?" He chuckled again before hitting Scorpius on the back. "Look, if you want her to ask you to come, _you_ should be the one to first mention about this Christmas break and ask her what she'll be doing. I'm sure she'll ask you then."

Scorpius stopped as they had just arrived at the front of their class. He turned to Albus. "Why are you so sure these days? What if she doesn't want me to come?"

"She does; trust me," replied Albus before hitting him again. He was going to walk inside the class when he remembered something, "Oh about before; just because you two are best friends, doesn't mean that you can't change that."

"Change what?" His ears only caught the word 'change' as he saw her talking and laughing with her friends in the class they were getting in. Albus must have realised that since he hit his shoulder harshly this time. "OWW!!" exclaimed Scorpius, his hand immediately went to his shoulder. "What was that for?"

"For not listening to a word I was saying. Again."

"I _was_ listening!"

"Really?" asked Albus, his brow raised. "What was I saying?"

Scorpius scratched the back of his head, a sign that he was nervous. "Err, something about change." As he saw Albus tilting his head slightly, he continued, "Okay, I wasn't listening. I'm sorry. My mind was –"

"Not only your mind, Scor, your eyes were somewhere else too."

"Well, is it my fault that she's standing right there where I can see?" asked Scorpius in a low voice.

"It's not her fault either because this is her class too. Your father doesn't own the class, mate." Albus paused before realising something, "He doesn't, does he?"

Scorpius shook his head. "I don't think so. If he does, he might have told me earlier." He shook his head again and looked at his friend. "So anyway, what were you saying? Something about change."

Albus sighed before answering, "Just because you two are best friends, doesn't mean that you can't change that. You have time, don't worry about it."

"I still don't –"

"Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy! Please take your seats, the class is starting!"

Both Albus and Scorpius ran into the class causing the other students to snicker. They took their seats just behind Rose.

"What took you two so long? I thought you were just behind me," she whispered.

"You don't want to know."

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_A/N: Don't forget to review. Til next time.._


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Yes, I've returned. I'm not dead yet. I'm very much alive actually. Well the semester is ending and for that reason, the uni was 'really' nice to give all of us so many assignments that I couldn't write anything for this chapter. Well, all assignments are submitted and all presentations are done, all that's left are the exams which are coming in 8 days! And I haven't started revising yet._

_Well, without further ado, this is chapter 4. Enjoy. And I'm sorry if it's short._

_**Disclaimer**: All characters belong to JK Rowling._

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CHAPTER 4

It was really quiet that night, even for a library. It was a Saturday evening; almost everyone was outside, avoiding this space for some quiet and relaxing time in their own Common Rooms. But not one Scorpius Malfoy. He had to do some extra work for being late to his class this afternoon. And it was due this coming Monday. Rose and Albus had offered to help; but being a nice person that he was, Scorpius rejected the offer and let them have the evening off.

He sighed, placing his quill on the table. _Merlin, why didn't I accept their offer? There's so much to do_, he thought as he hung his head. He then decided to close his eyes for a while. Clearing his head, he hoped that he would at least feel relaxed before continuing his work.

But unfortunately, something – or someone, rather – was on his mind. No matter how hard he tried, that person was always there. Not that he minded though; it's just that the time wasn't right. He should be thinking about his work, not her.

Scorpius sighed again, burying his head on his hands. He groaned as he tousled his own hair.

"Careful there, Scor. You'll lose your hair."

Without even looking up, Scorpius knew who the newcomer was. "Oh, shut it," he mumbled calmly even though his heart at that time had started to pound. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't a girl keep her friend some company?"

"They can," he said, finally looking up. "And I thank you for coming." Scorpius then grinned. "Why aren't you outside enjoying your Saturday?"

"Everybody's busy with their own business," answered Rose, shrugging off her shoulders. She took a seat in front of him.

Scorpius couldn't help but smile as he heard her answer. _That means she'd rather be here with me than with her friends_, he thought.

"How are you doing with your work?"

"Err, a few more paragraphs to go."

"And by 'a few', you mean?"

Scorpius paused. He knew that his answer would anger her somehow. So he just kept quiet, pretending to find some information on the book in front of him.

"So, how many more paragraphs do you have to write?"

"Around ... eight more?"

"Eight?" Her voice echoed in this quiet library.

The librarian was immediately at their side, surprising both the students. "I am sorry, Mr Malfoy and Miss Weasley. Even though the library is quite empty, you still cannot talk as loud as you want."

Both Scorpius and Rose mumbled their apologies. As soon as the librarian disappeared, Rose asked him again; this time in a lower voice, "Eight? What have you been doing here, Scor?"

"Oh I've been walking around the library, counting how many books we actually have in here," he replied sarcastically. "Do you know how many pages I have to do?"

"Yes, everybody in the class does. You have to do 10 pages. And how many have you done so far?"

Scorpius paused again, letting out a deep breath before answering, "Two, going on three."

"What?"

He immediately silenced her by placing her hand over her mouth. "Do you want her to come here again to scold us?" he hissed, leaning up front to whisper.

Rose shook her head. She then took his hand away from her mouth to mumble an audible sorry.

As he realised how close they were sitting now, Scorpius widened his eyes. "Err, that-that's okay," he stuttered. Too _close, I could even see her freckles. And not to mention that she's holding my hand now_, he thought.

Rose nodded, slowly letting go of her friend's hand. She was blushing, he noticed.

Scorpius then cleared his throat to clear off the awkwardness between them. "Err well, I've only done around three pages. And I've got around eight more paragraphs to go."

"Do you need any help?"

He looked up. "You're really asking me whether I need help or not?" As he got a nod as a response, he said, "But it's a Saturday evening. You're supposed to have fun outside, not helping me with the extra work I have to do."

She narrowed her eyes. "I should be the one saying that. _You're_ supposed to have fun outside. And come early for a class. Why were you late anyway?"

"I overslept."

Rose tilted her head. "Overslept? But it was an afternoon class."

Scorpius looked away from her. "I wanted to take a nap just for a while at the library. But 15 minutes turned into an hour."

"Where was Albus? Weren't you studying together?"

"We were, but he went out just a few minutes before I decided to take a nap."

Rose shook her head in disbelief. "You could've asked him to return here and walk together to class."

"I didn't want to be a bother."

She narrowed her eyes again. "So you'd rather get extra work than be a bother to your friend?"

"Well, when you said it like that –"

"You're really strange, you know that."

Scorpius started laughing quietly. Rose soon followed after.

Once they were sober, Rose repeated the question, "So do you want some help?" When all Scorpius was doing was to stay quiet, she continued, "I'm serious, Scor. So don't ask me again whether I'm sure or not. Because if you do, I'll return to the Common Room."

"I thought you said the others were too busy with their own business?" asked Scorpius, a smile on his face.

Rose narrowed her eyes. "Well, I can be busy with my _own_ business: reading. Now if you excuse me," she then stood up, slowly pushing the chair.

Scorpius was too confused to do anything but stare, "Wait, where are you going? You're not going to help me?"

"I was before you started asking me questions," hissed Rose, before closing in the gap to whisper. "Do you want me to accompany you here and help you or not?"

Realising how close they were once again, he started to blush. His heart was pounding so hard that he's afraid Rose could hear it somehow. He noticed her face starting to redden too, but she kept her face there.

"Well?" she prompted.

"Y-Yes."

"Yes what?" she whispered.

"I _do_ need you here with me." He widened his eyes as he realised what he said. "Err, I mean, I need you here to accompany me because I need your help so I can finish my extra work quickly." He took a deep breath. "Please?"

It was probably the slowest minute he had ever experienced. It might only be a few seconds – one minute tops – that Rose kept looking at him with a straight face albeit a bit flushed, but it felt like hours.

Finally Rose smiled his favourite smile and took her seat again. "Fine, do you have anything in return?"

Scorpius blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I've been helping you for the past few weeks, Scorpius. Don't you think I want something in return?" she asked, taking the book and parchment away from him.

He tilted his head. "Err, okay. What do you want something in return?"

"Be mine."

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_A/N: Yes, I realised that it's not my best. I admit it. My mind is slightly off these days. Too worried about the exams I suppose. And I'm too sleepy as well, it's almost midnight here. Well, don't forget to review. Tell me what you like or dislike from this chapter, and so on. Til next time.._

_P.S: I can only continue writing after the 25th. So please be patient. ;]_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Exams are done! I finally did it! Anyway to be honest, I wrote most of this chapter when I was studying. That's why I could post this up right after my exams. Well, enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer**: All characters belong to JK Rowling._

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CHAPTER 5

"**Be mine."**

Scorpius widened his eyes. Surely he'd heard something else. But he couldn't help himself but ask the person in front of him. "What?"

Rose looked up. "Hmm? Oh, you wrote 'be mine' instead of 'behind'." She took his quill and put a circle on the words. "Seriously, what have you been doing here? Don't tell me you've been thinking about that girl who caught your eye a few days ago." She looked up again. "I don't even know who this girl is. And you already want her to be yours. I _really_ want to see _and_ know who she is."

_It's you._

"Do I know her?"

"Yes."

"Oh, that's good. Well, is she pretty?"

Scorpius gulped before clearing his throat. "Well," looking intently into her eyes, "she's brilliant, inside and out."

Rose nodded. "Which house is she from?"

He smiled. "I can't tell you."

"Why?" she whined.

"Because you'll find out soon."

"Fine," she said as she rolled her eyes. "Oh, do James and Albus know her?"

"Yes, but you can't ask them either."

Rose sighed. "Well, that's really 'easy' to find. We all know this girl and she's really brilliant. I bet there's only one girl in the whole school," she said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes again, causing him to laugh. She poked his chest with his quill. "Don't laugh, Malfoy, or I'll stop right here."

He widened his eyes. "No, please don't," he said. "Sorry, I'll stop laughing."

For a few minutes, they stayed silent. The only things heard were Rose mumbling to herself and the quill moving on the paper. Scorpius took this chance to look at her closely: how her hair actually looked like, how her tongue sometimes came out of its hiding to lick her lips, how she sometimes took a bite of the end of his quill...

_Wait a minute, that's mine._

"Scorpius."

"Yes?"

"Stop looking at me."

He blinked. "Oh, sorry," he said as he looked away.

Finally after minutes of waiting and struggling to keep his eyes away from looking at her, she finished reading and correcting his work.

"I've already circled everything that needs correction and added some things here and there. I've even written the pages where you can get the answers from for the rest of the work you haven't done," she said as she returned the parchment, book and quill to him.

"Wow." That's the only word that could come out of his mouth as he saw the corrections - albeit a few - on the parchment. He looked up at her. "You're amazing, Rose."

Rose blushed and looked down to start playing with her fingers. "Thank you."

Scorpius shook his head. "No, I should be the one saying that." He boldly placed his hands on hers, causing her to look up. "So, thank _you_." He smiled at her.

"You're welcome," she mumbled and looked down.

He looked down as well. As he realised that his hands were on top of hers, he took his hands away even though it felt really nice holding her small hands. He then cleared his throat. "Err, so what do you want in return?" he asked as he remembered she asked him not too long ago.

Rose was silent for quite a long time. He thought that she was angry at him for holding her hands all of the sudden. But then she mumbled, "Do you have any plans this break?"

Scorpius gulped. He then remembered his conversation with Albus not too long ago. He cleared his throat quietly and calmly continued, "Break? You mean this Christmas break?"

She looked up. "Yes, do you have any plans then?"

It was his turn to look down; he couldn't look at her eyes and have her found out that he'd been looking forward to this moment. So he pretended to inspect the parchment in front of him. "Well other than plans to visit my grandparents, nothing yet I guess." He paused before muttering, "Why?"

"Oh, nothing," she replied, looking down again.

_Why did she ask if she's not going to –?_

"Well, it's not _nothing_," she immediately continued and looked up. "Scorpius."

"Yes?" he prompted, looking up.

"Do you think you can come to the Burrow?"

_She finally asked me_, he thought with a pounding heart.

"If you're not busy, that is."

Scorpius subtly replied, "Well, I have to ask my parents about it."

"Yes, of course. You have to ask your parents about it," said Rose, looking embarrassed. She laughed nervously before clearing her throat. "Until what time are you going to be here?"

"I'm not so sure. But I think I'm going to do until I'm halfway done. Why?"

Rose shook her head. "Nothing."

Realising that she's sitting right in front of him doing nothing, he said, "You know you can go back to the Common Room."

She snorted. "And leave you here alone? I don't think so. You might be doing something else."

Scorpius smiled. "But if you're here, I can't concentrate."

"Why is that?"

"Because we're going to keep talking."

She narrowed her eyes. "Fine, I'll grab a book and read quietly."

In the end, he managed to do seven pages that night. They both then went back to join the others in the Common Room. Scorpius walked to his friend sitting on the corner, whereas Rose walked to hers.

"Scor, finally you're here," exclaimed Albus as he noticed him taking a seat in front of him. "Did you finish it?"

"No," answered Scorpius, shaking his head. "I still have to do around three more pages then I'll be done. But I'll do it tomorrow. My hand aches so much that it's shaking." He then showed his right hand to Albus. And it was indeed shaking.

Albus just smiled. "Well, at least you got to spend your Saturday night with her."

"How'd you know?"

He smiled again. "I wasn't the only one, mate. Everybody saw her going out of this room and everybody knew that she's going to meet you at the library."

Scorpius moaned and buried his face on his hands. "And everybody saw us coming in together."

Albus nodded. "But don't worry. At least she looks happy, even though she looks a bit flushed."

Scorpius looked up and turned his head to her. When their eyes locked, Rose smiled at him, causing him to turn his head back and blush. "I think I know why."

"What do you mean?" asked Albus. He widened his eyes. "Wait, you two didn't do anything, did you?"

He narrowed his eyes and then shook his head. "She helped me with the work and we talked for a while. That's it." He shoved Albus' shoulder. "Anyway she said that since she's been helping me for the past few weeks, I had to give her something in return. I asked her what she wanted and she –"

Albus widened his eyes again. "Wait; she asked you to come to the Burrow, didn't she?"

He nodded his head this time.

"And what did you say?"

"Well, I told her I had to ask my parents first."

"What? Why? Why don't you just say yes?"

Scorpius narrowed his eyes again. "Are you mad? No matter how much I really want to say yes to her, I still have to ask my parents first. I can't just Floo to the Burrow without them knowing where I will be."

"I can somehow imagine your Dad asking the whole people in Ministry to look for you," said Albus before laughing, causing Scorpius to hit him again. "OWW!" He then stopped laughing but still had a smile on his face. "Wait, that means you _are_ going to the Burrow after you get your permission, right?"

Before Scorpius could do anything to answer his friend, someone took a seat just beside him and said, "Oh, you're going to the Burrow? When?"

"Christmas break," Albus answered for him before smiling. "Our cousin invited him."

"Really? Rose did?" asked James. After getting a nod from his brother, he smiled. He turned to Scorpius. "When did she ask you?"

"In the library just now."

James smiled even bigger. "I don't think you need to be a secret admirer since she already asked you to visit the Burrow, mate."

"What do you mean?" asked Scorpius, not getting what his friend had said.

"Scor, usually people who are invited to the Burrow during the break are those who will be a part of the big family soon."

Scorpius thought for a while before mumbling, "I'm still not following."

"Scorpius," this time it was Albus' turn to explain, "Aunt Hermione was a friend to our Dad and Uncle Ron since the first year. And both Aunt Hermione and our Dad were always invited during the holidays and were even asked to spend some nights in the Burrow before they had to go to Hogwarts. They used to be best friends – well they still are until today – but now Aunt Hermione is married to Uncle Ron, whereas our Dad is married to the only female Weasley at that time."

James continued, "You're invited now. Then that means you're going to be a part of us soon."

Despite the red face he's wearing, he replied, "You can't be serious."

"Why not?"

"You can't exactly _know_ that I'll be a part of you in the future. It's still so far away."

Albus narrowed his eyes. "Weren't you listening to a single word I've said? Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron had been best friends since their first year at Hogwarts, and now they're married."

"You and Rose are best friends, aren't you? Maybe you'll be married later," said James. "Who knows, right? Besides, you two fancy each other."

Scorpius immediately blushed and hid his face on his hands. "Oh noo!"

James laughed. "For a bloke as brilliant as you, you are _really_ slow."

"I just remember something," said Scorpius, his hands no longer hiding his face. "I told her."

"Told her what?"

"You told her that you liked her?"

Scorpius shook his head. "I told her who the person is." He then told his friends what happened in the library.

"And she still doesn't know who the girl is," James mumbled, shaking his head. "You two are brilliant _and_ slow at the same time."

"Just like Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron."

"Stop comparing us to her parents," said Scorpius, hiding his face yet again.

Albus laughed. "But it's true."

"Scor, if you don't want us to compare you to her parents, you know what you should do right?"

Scorpius looked up to James. "What?"

"Declare your love to her."

He shook his head. "I still want to be her best friend," he said before pausing. He took a deep breath. "I'd rather be her best friend until we die than be her enemy for telling her how I feel."

James sighed. "Then I guess you'll stick to being a secret admirer until we all die."

Scorpius just nodded. "It's easier that way."

"Well, if you're going to be a secret admirer, what are you going to do? You haven't started being one yet, you know," said Albus.

"Write her a letter," James suggested. "Tell her that you appreciated her help in the library just now."

Scorpius tilted his head. "No, she'll straight away recognise it that it's me. And she already knows my handwriting."

For a while, none of them spoke. They were all busy thinking about what would be a better way to be a secret admirer without her finding out soon.

James suddenly clapped once, surprising everyone in the Common Room. Instead of being embarrassed for having the whole attention directed to him, he just grinned and said, "It's nothing, people. Just get on with whatever you lot were doing."

Both Albus and Scorpius rolled their eyes and asked simultaneously, "What is it?"

Grinning, he whispered, "It might be a bit cheesy but I think she'll like it." He then motioned them to lean closer and started telling them his plan.

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_A/N: As usual, don't forget to review. Til next time.._

_P.S: Happy holidays to those having a break - including me. For those who are not, well have a good day!_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: I know I said in the beginning of this story that there might not be many chapters. But I think there _will_ be many chapters. Hopefully though, not as many as 20 chapters. Anyway I finally wrote this chapter after a month of being absent. It sometimes gets difficult in thinking and portraying what the characters should say/do. Well, enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer:** Every character belongs to JK Rowling._

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CHAPTER 6

That night Scorpius couldn't sleep properly. All he could think about was what he and the Potter brothers had discussed about his 'role' when becoming a secret admirer to Rose. At first he rejected the idea. But as he thought more about it, it made more sense. The only problem was: _where to get a rose in Hogwarts?_

He thought of asking his friends or maybe some of his professors about it, but it might be a little too suspicious for a bloke like him asking where to find a rose. James and Albus weren't much of a help either. They just told him to find it himself.

_What to do?_

Usually when he's confused or needed help for his homework, he would always go to that one person since she was one of the best students around. But unfortunately the person he wanted to go to was the same person he would have to give a rose to.

_Maybe I _can_ ask for her help? But will she find out that it's me?_

Finally after a few more turns and tosses on his bed, he could close his eyes to start sleeping.

In the morning, Scorpius suddenly woke up to the sound of people walking around the room he was sharing with his roommates. He mumbled, "Could you please do whatever you're doing silently?" and rolled to the side without even opening his eyes to see who the intruder was.

His roommate laughed and suddenly poked his head. "You have to wake up anyway. It's almost noon."

He groaned and buried his face into his pillows. "Shut up," he replied. "I'm still very sleepy. Couldn't sleep properly last night."

"Why not? We all went to bed quite early last night, seeing that you went back from your date earlier than expected."

Scorpius lifted his arm to make the move to shove his friend. But unfortunately Albus was now standing too far for his arm to reach, causing Albus to laugh again.

"It wasn't a date so shut up, Al."

Albus snickered. "Okay fine, it wasn't a date. She was just helping you do your extra work in the library where it was almost empty because it was a Saturday evening."

Suddenly a pillow flew into Albus' head.

"I told you to shut up, didn't I?"

Albus stood up from his seat on his own bed and walked to Scorpius', the pillow on his hand. "Sorry, mate. But you still have to wake up," he said, placing the pillow on the bed. "You still have three more pages to do, remember?"

Scorpius groaned.

An hour passed and Scorpius was finally properly dressed. He went down to the Great Hall by himself as Albus already left him upstairs.

As it was a Sunday afternoon, not many people were downstairs. They were most probably playing outside, or still sleeping.

But not that one person. And of course Albus.

"Hey, sleepyhead," Rose greeted him as he took a seat across from her. "Good sleep, I suppose."

Scorpius snorted. "Not really," he replied, gathering some food into his plate. He thanked Merlin or whoever it was that still left some food for him to eat. "It was actually the opposite. I couldn't really sleep."

"Why?" she asked. "Didn't you all go to sleep earlier than me?"

"We did," answered Albus. "But I don't know why he couldn't sleep."

Albus and Rose turned to Scorpius almost simultaneously.

"I had a lot in mind."

Albus quietly snorted but Scorpius could hear it.

"Were you thinking about that extra work you have left?" asked Rose. "You still have ... how many pages do you still need to do?"

"Around three."

"Need help?"

Both Albus and Scorpius lifted their eyes to see the girl sitting in front of them.

"I'm free today, anyway."

"You don't mind?" asked Scorpius.

Rose smiled. "No."

"Really? Why?" asked Albus.

Rose turned to her cousin. "Because I'm a great friend to him, and you're not," she answered. "I'd rather spend time with him doing work than watching him 'die' excruciatingly slow later should he not finish the said work."

Scorpius was confused whether he should be happy because she volunteered to help him or insulted for she somehow thought that he might not finish it by the end of the day by himself. Nevertheless, he smiled as he saw her turn her face towards him. "Thank you."

Rose smiled again. "So what time do you want to start?"

"Right after I finish my brunch."

One hour later, both Rose and Scorpius found themselves in the library. Just like yesterday, it was almost empty; only a few people were sitting inside and doing their own work. Nonetheless, the librarian was still walking around the area just in case any of them tried to disturb the peace and quiet of the library.

"Why do you want to help me, Rose?" asked Scorpius, in the middle of writing the essay. "You should have been outside, having fun."

Rose sighed and looked up from her book. "I thought we've talked about this," she said. "I'd rather be here with you in a library than be outside. The weather's quite hot today anyway."

"You could have stayed in the Common Room too," he replied. "At least it's not quiet there."

"Maybe I want some peace and quiet."

She spoke so softly that Scorpius almost couldn't hear what she said. He looked up to confirm that she did say the sentence, but unfortunately she's already hiding behind her book. Fortunately for him though, he could somehow see her ears that had turned red. He smiled before continuing his deserted work.

Finally the three pages were done. Scorpius then packed up his things. Seeing that Rose was still reading her book, he sat still, looking at her.

"Do you have something to ask me?" asked Rose so sudden that he almost jumped out of his chair. She looked up from her book.

Scorpius cleared his throat. "Err, well I _do_ have something to ask you." _What am I doing?_

"Okay, what's the question?"

"I have to look for a ... an item. But I don't know where to find it."

Rose paused. "This ... item; can't you tell me what it is?"

"No," he answered, shaking his head. "It's a secret."

"Why do you want to look for this item?"

"It's still a secret."

Rose sighed. "Okay, fine. Is it school-related?" As soon as she got a shake of his head as an answer, she continued, "Well, that's really easy to answer," with a roll of her eyes. Sighing, she asked again, "Is this item important to you?"

"Well I have to find it, so yes."

"Did you lose this item?"

"It's not mine, but I have to find it. The problem is: I don't know how to."

Rose leaned closer. "Is it someone else's and you lost it?"

"No."

She leaned back and crossed her arms. "Well, my parents usually use Accio," she said, nodding her head. "But if you do, the item will fly from wherever the location is before coming to you. If it's really huge, you would draw the whole school's attention and you might end up having a detention because I assume the item is illegal."

"It's not."

"Good," said Rose. "Then again, you come to me instead of our Professors." Her eyes were now narrowed.

"It's _not_ illegal, I'm serious."

She sighed. "Since you're not telling me what it is," she paused, thinking of what to ask him. "Oh, how big is it?"

"It's quite small actually."

She nodded again. "Hmm, then maybe if you Accio it, it wouldn't draw as much attention."

"Yes, but it'll be quite weird seeing this item flying around the school," said Scorpius. "And I don't want people to know that it's me." He suddenly widened his eyes as he came to a realisation. "What if someone else in Hogwarts has this item and when I Accio it, they'll follow wherever this item flies to and find out it's me?" His eyes were now even wider, if that's possible. "Or worse: what if this someone else is one of the Professors?

"Calm down, Scor. I'm sure whatever reason you have for looking for it is reasonable. Maybe they won't tell anyone about it." She paused. "Well, I hope it _is_ reasonable."

Scorpius just stayed silent as he himself didn't know whether his reason was ... well, reasonable.

"Do you have any more questions?"

"No," he answered, smiling as he did so, "Thank you for everything though."

"You're welcome," she replied with a smile on her face too. "Shall we go back? You've finished everything, haven't you?"

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_A/N: As usual, don't forget to review. ;]_

_P.S: Hopefully by next chapter, everything will start to kick off. I know that the pace of this story is really slow. And I apologise for that._


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Wow, I actually did this in a few days. It's a surprise really. Anyway I never thought that there would be many reviews for the latest chapter. I really didn't expect it. Everybody was kind of anticipating it. That's good! ;]_

_**Disclaimer:** Every character belongs to JK Rowling._

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CHAPTER 7

When he woke up in the morning, Scorpius felt like he had slept for more than the hours he usually had. He slept like a baby, which he hadn't had for a very long time ever since he was in Hogwarts. Except during the holiday break of course, where he usually woke up very late.

As he walked down the stairs to the Great Hall, he greeted almost everyone he knew around school. He knew everyone thought he'd turned mad, but he didn't care a bit.

"Scor, why are you so cheerful today?" asked a very sleepy James when they were having their breakfast. "Today is Monday. You're not supposed to be cheerful."

"That's because I slept really early last night and I finished my extra work due today," he answered as he smiled to his friend. "And also because," he then leaned closer to him, "I already did what you told me a few days ago."

"What did I tell you a few days ago?"

Scorpius shook his head. "You don't remember?"

"Either that or I'm just too sleepy to respond to your statement."

He leaned in closer to James once more. "You know, you suggested that I get a rose to you-know-who."

James paused for a while to think as he stared at the person in front of him. "Oh, you mean _that_." He seemed to realise something. "Wait!" He in turn leaned in closer to Scorpius. "How'd you get the rose?"

"I asked her."

"What do you mean you asked her?"

Scorpius nodded. "I asked her how to get an item if you don't know where to find it."

"And she didn't find out?"

This time he shook his head. "No," he answered. "Well, she _did_ get suspicious but she didn't say anything. Because I told her that the item I was looking for was a secret and she's not allowed to know why I asked her."

"Are you sure she wouldn't find out?" James asked him again, this time slower so Scorpius heard it properly.

He stayed silent for a while, thinking about what his companion had said.

"You didn't think this through, did you?"

Scorpius buried his face into his hands. "I'm such an idiot," he mumbled to himself. "What if she found out that it was me?"

James placed his hand across his shoulder. "Hopefully, she won't. But she's a smart girl."

"You're not helping, James."

"Okay, I'm sorry. But let's just hope she won't find out," said James, patting his back gently. "Because if she did, that's the same thing as declaring your love to her. Indirectly."

He groaned. "There goes my so-called happy day."

James patted his back again before he continued eating. "So tell me, how'd you manage to get a rose from this school?"

"I used Accio," he whispered. "Last night, before I went to bed."

"Really? No-one found out?"

"I opened the window. And all the roommates were still outside," he answered. "I think the rose came from one of the greenhouses."

"Yeah, that's a possibility," replied James, nodding his head. "Well, just hope that nobody was there when you Accio it."

"Nobody came into the room after the rose came from the window."

James nodded his head again. "Oh, when are you giving it to her?" he asked, before looking at his cousin sitting quite far from the two. "Or have you already given her?"

"I have," he answered, not looking at her, too afraid that he might reveal something even when they're not sitting together. "I asked one of the school owls to give it to her when the posts come later."

"Did you write anything?"

Scorpius shook his head. "No, just like you warned me on that day." He sighed. "Well, I was planning to write 'For You' but she'll find out, I reckon."

Albus then suddenly came and took a seat across the two of them. "Hey," he mumbled. After getting a similar response, he started gathering food into his plate. "Why are you two so early?"

"I have a really early class today," James answered. "While he," motioning to Scorpius with his head, "was ... how should I say it? He was so happy that he woke up early."

"So why are you happy?" asked Albus, looking at Scorpius.

"I _was_ happy because I slept quite early last night and I finished my extra work due today."

"And because he already gave a rose to our cousin," James continued for him.

Albus widened his eyes. "Really? When? How?"

"I gave it to one of the school owls this morning. As to the 'how' question, I used Accio," he answered, not feeling excited anymore seeing that Rose might just find out.

James, noticing the change in his friend's mood, patted Scorpius' back again. "Oh cheer up, mate. At least you've done something."

Albus alternated between looking at his friend and his brother. "I'm not sure I understand what's going on here." He then settled by looking at Scorpius. "Aren't you supposed to be happy that you finally gave her a rose?"

"I was," Scorpius sighed. "But James said something that reminded me of what I did yesterday."

"I'm still not following."

"Yesterday, I went to the library with her right? To finish off with my extra work," he said. After a nod from Albus, he continued, "So I accidentally told her that I had a question that I needed to ask her. I told her that she's not allowed to ask why I asked her the question and it was all a secret. So I asked her how to get an item without anyone finding out."

"Of all people in this whole school, you picked her?" asked Albus. "You know you could've asked someone else."

Scorpius shrugged off his shoulders. "I don't know what came to me yesterday. The question just came out."

"You're madly in love with her," commented Albus. "Head over heels in love with her."

Scorpius hid his face in his hands again as he groaned. "What am I going to do if she finds out?"

Before any of the Potter brothers could respond to him, the owls came. Everyone in the Great Hall looked up, hoping that they would get a post. All of them, except Scorpius who kept hiding his face.

"Scor, she got the rose," whispered James as he poked Scorpius' arm.

Scorpius took a peek in between his hands to look at Rose.

"She looks sort of confused," said Albus. "But I think she's happy on the inside."

"She should be," replied James. "Mum told me that girls like to get a flower."

Despite what he's feeling at the moment, Scorpius snorted. He turned to face James. "Does that mean you've already given a girl a flower, James?"

"Not your business, mate," he replied, smiling. "Today is your day, not mine."

Scorpius sighed. "What is she doing now?" he asked, not looking at her anymore.

"She's looking for something," answered Albus. He then turned his head to look at Scorpius. "I think she's looking for a note."

"I didn't write anything because I know that she will recognise my handwriting."

Albus nodded. "True."

"How many roses did you take?" asked James.

"I only took one stem," answered Scorpius. "Otherwise people would notice if I took a whole bouquet."

"What are you going to do tomorrow?"

"I haven't thought about it," he answered, truthfully. "I'll just wait for her response to the rose she just got."

And that time had come. During lunch time, Rose took a seat in front of Albus and Scorpius who had already started their lunch.

"Hey, did you two know that I received a rose this morning?" she asked.

"Yeah, we heard," answered Albus who surprisingly looked quite calm. Noticing the look on his cousin's face, he continued, "Words travel faster than you think, Rose."

"Oh, okay. So do you know who sent this?" she asked, showing them the flower. "I've been going around asking people whether they do, but nobody seems to know."

"No, sorry," Albus answered again. "You didn't get a note then? Stating whoever sent it or whatever message from them."

Rose shook her head. "I don't even know why this person sent me a rose."

"Maybe because you've been nice to them and they sent you a rose as a thank you." This time Scorpius answered. "I mean you always help people with their homework, so maybe it's a way to say thanks."

Rose turned to him. "Yeah, it could be," she said. "But I wonder, why does it have to be a rose? Is it because my name is Rose, so they gave me a rose? Why not a letter saying 'Thank You'? Or come to me in person?"

"Maybe they're too shy to talk to you," answered Scorpius.

"They don't have to talk to me; they can just write me a letter."

"Maybe they don't want you to find out," he continued. _Stop talking! She will _definitely_ find out that it was you who did it._

Albus suddenly stepped on Scorpius' foot. "So does that mean you'd rather get a letter than a flower?" he asked.

Rose turned to her cousin now. "Well, I don't mind getting a flower. I mean I've never received a flower before. Not even my Dad has given me once," she replied, playing with the rose in her hand. "My guess is ... this mysterious person is a boy."

Scorpius could feel his heart starting to thump harder.

"What made you say that?" asked Albus.

"Girls don't give other girls a flower, do they?"

_Why did I fall in love with a really smart girl?_

"Maybe that's what they want you to think," said Albus, who still looked quite calm. "They want you to think a bloke has sent you a rose when it's actually a girl who has. Makes sense, doesn't it?"

Rose nodded. "It does," she mumbled. "But I'm still curious as to who sent this."

Albus rolled his eyes. "Hey, at least they thanked you in a form of a rose," he said.

Then, without anyone's consent, lunch time was over. Classes continued. As usual, the three of them had the same classes until the end of the day. Scorpius couldn't help it but look at Rose's behaviour after she got the flower.

"Don't worry, mate. She's truly happy that you got her a rose. You can see it in her eyes."

That's what Albus told him. Scorpius thought so too, because she kept on playing with the rose with a smile on her face when she thought nobody was looking. That made him smile too. At least James' idea wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.

"Hey Scor, Al," greeted James as he took a seat in the Great Hall during dinner. "I've got some good news." Both Albus and Scorpius immediately stopped eating and leaned in. "I heard from one of the girls who shares a room with Rose that," James looked around, making sure nobody was near to listen to what he's going to say, "she placed the rose inside a glass with water in it. That means she really liked that flower."

"Yeah I know. I even caught her smelling the flower a few times," said Albus. He turned to Scorpius. "I think you have to give her a rose again next time."

"No, don't," said James. "This time, you'll wait. Maybe wait for three days, or even a week, before you send another thing. Preferably, not a rose."

"What is it, then?" asked Scorpius.

"I don't know," answered James, shrugging off his shoulder. "Something that she'd like even better than a rose."

* * *

_A/N: Don't forget to review. ;]_

_P.S: Can anyone give me an idea of what to give Rose for the next chapter? I'm kind of stuck. For whatever idea you have in mind, thank you in advance!_


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: I read somewhere that only the third-year students are allowed to go to Hogsmeade, so just pretend that now everyone is allowed to visit (In this story, everyone except James is in their second year). And also just pretend that WWW has opened its branch in Hogsmeade. ;]_

_Nevertheless, enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer:** Every character belongs to JK Rowling._

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CHAPTER 8

It was the next morning. Scorpius didn't send anything to her, just like what James told him last night. So he just went down the stairs to go to the Great Hall without as much enthusiasm as the day before, seeing that nothing special was going to happen. But when he saw a red-haired girl sitting there, he put on a smile, not wanting her to know anything about him being her secret admirer.

"Morning," he greeted, as he took a seat in front of her.

"Morning, Scor," she replied with a smile on her face. "How's your sleep?"

"Okay, I guess," he mumbled, starting to gather some food into his plate. "Yours?"

"I couldn't sleep last night."

_That's new_, he thought. "Why?"

"Too many things on my mind," answered Rose, without looking at the person in front of her. "I haven't done my homework for Friday."

Scorpius secretly rolled his eyes. _It's due Friday, for Merlin's sake_.

"And I was actually thinking about that mysterious boy who sent me the rose yesterday."

He looked up. "You still think that the one who sent it was a bloke?"

Rose nodded, looking up as she did so. "Don't you think so too?"

"I guess so, but what Albus said to you yesterday made sense too."

She sighed. "I don't know; I'll just wait for another clue. Hope he – or she – sends me another rose today."

"You really think she – or he – is going to send you another rose? Today?"

Rose shrugged off her shoulders. "I can hope, can't I?" she mumbled.

As they were having their breakfasts, the owls came. Both Scorpius and Rose looked up; he was looking for a letter that his parents might have sent, whereas she was looking for a rose or something else sent from the mysterious boy. Each of them got a letter. After catching it, Rose immediately turned the envelope around. She looked disappointed as she saw who the sender was.

Realising the change in her face, Scorpius said, "I guess that's not the mysterious boy?"

"It's from my Mum," she mumbled, as she opened the letter and read it. "Just the usual."

He smiled. "You really _are_ waiting for that mysterious boy."

Rose looked up to see him smiling and shaking his head as if he found it ridiculous. She playfully shoved him. "Oh, shut it. You know I'm just curious."

But he knew that she was really waiting for the secret admirer to send her another rose. He could see it in her eyes that she was disappointed she got nothing from him. Her smile was a bit forced that day.

In a way, Scorpius was happy that Rose actually liked the flower he gave her last night. On the other hand though, she might actually fall for the mysterious boy. That's what made him afraid to send another item. But as both James and Albus convinced him that his thoughts were rubbish, he quickly made plans about what to give her next.

Once again, both the Potters didn't want to help him. James said that he already helped for the first item, so why couldn't Scorpius do it by himself. The younger Potter said that he had no idea what gift was perfect for her, seeing that Rose was his cousin, not someone he would go out with.

As soon as he heard the response, Scorpius' face turned as red as a tomato. He shoved his friend and quickly walked away, leaving Albus to laugh by himself.

_Letter is out_, he thought as he lay down on his bed one night. _I can't exactly do anything related to writing; she would definitely find out_.

He turned to his side and saw a book on the bedside table. _A book?_ He paused for a while before shaking his head. _No, that's too predictable._

He sighed and turned to his back again. _Why is it so hard to think of an item?_

Scorpius then gave up and tried to sleep.

The next morning, Scorpius sleepily walked down the stairs to have his breakfast in the Great Hall. As he saw her sitting alone, he took a seat in front of her and placed his head on the table.

"Good morning to you too," joked Rose, with a cheerful voice. "I guess you didn't have a good sleep last night."

"I couldn't sleep," he mumbled. "Did you do something to me yesterday? Did you put some spells on me or something?"

She laughed. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

"Don't know," he answered as he looked up. "I look horrible, don't I?"

"No, you look perfectly fine," she replied, before blushing. "Just like what you look every day."

Scorpius couldn't help but smile at her response. "Thank you for the compliment."

For the rest of the breakfast, they both kept quiet until both the Potter brothers came and joined them. The table became noisy again after the arrival of James and Albus.

"Rosie!" greeted James, placing his arms around his cousin's shoulder. "How are you today?"

"Aren't you cheerful today?" she said, smiling. "I'm fine, thank you. And you?"

James laughed. "I'm great!" His answer was a bit too cheerful, causing both Rose and Scorpius to look at him with narrowed eyes.

"Did something good happen to you?" she asked. "Why are you so happy? Compared to your friend right here," gesturing to Scorpius with her chin, "you are _really_ 'bright'."

Once again James just laughed. He took his hand away from her shoulders and started eating his breakfast.

"Something must have happened last night," said Albus, for the first time that morning. "Or this morning, before I met him in the Common Room."

"It's still none of your business, Al," replied James. "Anyway," he then looked up, "Hogsmeade weekend is coming up. Are you all going?"

_No wonder he's happy. He's probably going to WWW._

"Either you're going to WWW or you're going on a date," said Rose. "Which one is it?"

_Isn't she smart?_

James suddenly tousled Rose's hair. "You're brilliant, did you know that?"

"Well yes, everybody's told me," she replied jokingly, sticking out her tongue. "So which one is it?"

"You just have to wait for it," he answered, tousling her hair again. "If we're going together, then you all will find out."

Without anyone's consent, it was time for all of them to go to their first classes. Rose went first as her friends called for her. The rest were still sitting at their places.

"Scor, have you thought of your next gift for Rose yet?" asked James.

"Yes, but in the end I still have no idea what to give her," answered Scorpius. "I can't give her a letter since she will find out as soon as she reads the first word. And I can't give her a book either."

"Why not?" said Albus. "She likes reading books."

Scorpius sighed. "She does, I know. But don't you think she would think that it's too predictable or something? Just because she likes reading, doesn't mean that she'd like a new book. Merlin knows how many books she already owns in her house."

"You can't even count," mumbled James. "She gets that from Aunt Hermione."

"But I'm sure she would still appreciate it if you get her a new book."

"I know, but I don't know what book to get her since she might probably have every book in this world _and_ the Muggle world." Scorpius sighed again. "I couldn't sleep last night because of this."

"You know, I brought up Hogsmeade weekend for a reason," said James. He motioned Albus and Scorpius to lean closer. "I know I said that I wouldn't help you for the second item. But since you look like you're getting mad over this, I decided to help you again." He paused. "There are many shops in Hogsmeade, right? So why don't you go around the area and once you find what you're looking for, buy it for her?"

Scorpius just nodded faintly.

"I'll go with you," offered Albus. "I'll help you choose the item you're going to give her."

"You can buy some chocolates or sweets. You know how much she likes those," said James. "You can even buy her some books, if you want. Or something that you're sure she would treasure until the end."

* * *

_A/N: Thank you all for the suggestions. I very much appreciated them all. I don't think I can fit every one of the suggestions here, but I'll try my very best. Well anyway, don't forget to review. ;]_


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: I'm really sorry for a really long update. The only excuse I have is I ran out of ideas! Which somehow leads to me losing interests in writing this. But don't worry, I'll finish this story. Hopefully you all can be kind enough to wait for updates. I'd like to thank those who have been waiting for this chapter. And also the reviewers. Enjoy!_

_By the way, if you find any mistakes, I'm really sorry (again). I decided to post this at midnight. And my eyes are asking me to take a rest. So if there are any spelling mistakes, or whatever you could find, I apologise.._

_**Disclaimer:** None of the characters belong to me. They all belong to JK Rowling._

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CHAPTER 9

"Al, what do you think I should buy for her?" asked Scorpius at Hogsmeade. "Don't suggest something that's really expensive, though. I didn't bring enough money with me."

Both of them were walking down the street together. James already went on his way, to Merlin-knows-where. But if they both had to guess, it might just be the WWW. On the other hand, Rose went with her friends. The four of them were planning to go together, but things didn't go as planned.

"Well as James said before, you could buy her some sweets or chocolates."

Scorpius nodded.

"Or you could buy her some quill."

"Quill?" he echoed, while looking at his friend on his left. "Don't you think she has enough?"

"But I don't think she has a quill with her initials inscribed on it."

Scorpius paused for a while, thinking about what Albus had just suggested. "That's true," he said eventually, nodding his head. "I wonder how much it will cost me."

"You don't have to find an expensive quill."

"Of course I won't," he replied. "But don't you think getting someone to inscribe someone's initials would be expensive?"

Albus stayed quiet for a while, thinking about what to say. "You don't have to get someone to inscribe it. You can do it yourself, you know."

"You know that my writing is not that good."

He smiled at his friend and placed his arm around Scorpius' shoulder. "Aren't you a wizard, mate? A brilliant one at that. I'm sure you can do it."

Scorpius looked at Albus with a confused look. "What exactly are you saying?"

Once again, Albus smiled. "Why are brilliant people clueless at the same time?"

Suddenly, Scorpius shoved him none too gently. But Albus just laughed.

"Come on," said Albus, placing his arm around Scorpius' shoulder again. "Let's find you some item for your beloved."

"Shut it, Al," hissed Scorpius, though his face was blushingly red.

On that day, they went from one shop to the other, looking for an appropriate gift to be given to Rose. They first went to a bookshop, but unfortunately the quills sold over there were so expensive, even both of them couldn't afford to buy with the money combined. The books over there were also very expensive.

At the end of the day though, Scorpius managed to buy a lot of sweets and a pair of quills.

"Why did you buy two quills?" asked Albus, as they walked back to Hogwarts.

"Just in case I mess up the first quill," answered Scorpius. He then looked at his friend on his left. "How do you think I should give her the sweets? Do I just give her?"

"Well, you can say that you bought too many and you've already given some of them to us," he suggested. "Just give her casually, like it's no big deal."

"Hopefully I won't mess up anything," he said, his hand on the bag where he had put his things.

Dinner came faster than expected.

"Hi!"

Both Albus and Scorpius looked up from their plates as they heard the voice of a newcomer.

"Hey, James," replied Albus.

"Where were you?" asked Scorpius, as soon as his friend took a seat in front of him. "I thought we were going together."

"I was looking for you two as well."

"Really?"

James nodded. "Yes, why would I be joking?" he said, as he gathered some food into his plate. "Anyway, I found something that might interest you, Scor."

"What is it?" asked Albus and Scorpius simultaneously.

He gestured them to come closer. "I found this pen on WWW today which I forgot the name. So let's just call it magic pen," he whispered.

"Magic pen?" echoed Albus, with a confused look on his face. "Don't you have any other name?"

"I can't think of anything right now," said James, shoving his brother's shoulders. "Anyway if you write something with this pen, the result of the handwriting will be completely different from the original one. Maybe it looks something like Aunt Hermione's handwriting."

"I've never seen her handwriting," said Scorpius.

"It's really nice," said Albus. "It's really neat. It even looks like those calligraphy words."

"Yeah it really does," James agreed. "Therefore by using this magic pen," he turned to look at his brother and narrowed his eyes as if to warn him before looking at Scorpius again, "you can write a letter to Rose and say whatever you want to say to her."

"But I already bought her something."

"What did you buy her?"

"A quill and some sweets," he answered. "I'm planning to give her the sweets tonight."

"You're giving the granddaughter of a pair of dentists some sweets?" said James.

Feeling confused, Scorpius said, "But you're the one who suggested it."

"I did," he said. "But I didn't mean to give her tonight."

"Then what do you suggest I do?"

Albus scoffed at both of them. "The way you two fight is like Lily and Hugo."

Both James and Scorpius ignored him.

"It's not like Rose would finish everything by tonight," continued Scorpius.

"Still, why don't you give her tomorrow?"

"Because I want her to know that I bought too many," he said. "If I give her tomorrow, she'll find out that I especially bought some for her."

"Which you did," mumbled Albus.

"If I give her tonight," Scorpius ignored his friend again, "the chance of her finding out that I _did_ buy her some sweets is somehow small." He paused for a while. "Don't you think so, James?"

James took some time to think about it. In the end, he nodded. "Yeah, that's true."

"What's true?"

All the three boys looked up and found out there's a newcomer. Scorpius' eyes looked like they were about to pop out once they knew who it was.

"Hello, you three," greeted Rose. She then took a seat beside Scorpius. "What were you all talking about? You looked so serious just now."

"Oh, things you don't want to know," answered James, as calm as he could be.

"Such as?" she prompted, not looking at them as she was too busy taking food.

"You seriously don't want to know about this," said Scorpius, looking at her.

Rose looked at him. "And why is that?"

"Just some secret only blokes will like to know."

She just nodded, even if she still looked a bit confused. She then looked at his older cousin. "So, where were you, James? I haven't seen you all day." She leaned in closer and narrowed her eyes. "Did you really go on a date?"

James smiled. "I only went to WWW today."

"With whom?"

"Some of my friends," he answered. Before any of the others could ask more, he immediately added, "And they were mostly blokes."

Compared to others, Rose looked disappointed at his answer.

"What's with your face, Rose?" asked James, slightly amused. "Why? Did you expect me to go with girls instead?"

"Yes!" she answered, nodding her head once. "You were too happy a few days ago. So I thought you went out with a girl – or maybe _several_ girls – today."

James smiled again. "Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but I wasn't on a date."

Rose just nodded before starting on her dinner. "So where did you two go?"

"Are you asking Scor and me?" asked Albus.

"No," she answered, looking up. "I'm asking my spoon and fork here. Of course, I am asking you two."

Albus grinned. "We just went around Hogsmeade."

"Did you buy anything?"

Both Albus and James immediately looked at Scorpius. And with their eyes, they motioned him to give her the sweets now. Scorpius on the other hand widened his eyes. He didn't expect them to ask him to give her now. He was planning to give her right after they finished their dinner.

"Did you two buy anything?" asked Rose again, this time looking up. "Or am I not supposed to know the answer? Because it might be a secret only blokes will like to know."

Albus and James laughed.

"I didn't buy anything," answered Albus. He then looked at Scorpius. "But Scorpius did."

Rose turned her head to look at her friend on his left. "What did you buy?"

His heart started to beat quicker. But he managed to answer it calmly, "Some sweets. Which reminds me," he reached into his bag and took a plastic bag filled with sweets, "I bought too many sweets today. I've already given the others, but there are still so many left." He then showed the contents to her. "So I'm giving them all to you."

"All of them?" she asked, widening her eyes. "But there are so many."

"I know."

"Why did you buy so many?"

"I didn't know there would be a lot," he answered, not caring whether it made sense or not. "So, here you go," he said as he gave her the whole thing.

"Really? All of them?"

Scorpius nodded. "Yes, all of them."

"Thank you, Scor," she said, smiling so sweet Scorpius almost died right there. Rose then placed the small plastic bag inside her own bag and continued her deserted dinner. "I wanted to buy some for myself today, but I didn't bring enough money."

"Well isn't that a coincidence?"

Rose smiled. "Yes it is," she agreed. "A bit weird, but in a good way."

"That's because you didn't have to spend some money to buy the sweets," said Albus, earning him a soft whack on the hand from his cousin. But he just laughed, causing the others to laugh as well.

* * *

_A/N: I know this is not my best. It's a bit weird, and off, to be honest. Hopefully by the next chapter, it's as good as you expect this to be. Til next time.._


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Some of you asked for a chapter based on Rose's POV. To be honest, I wanted to do this chapter maybe later after I finish with this story. But since I was stuck and I had no idea what to continue with the story, I decided to take a 'break' and did a Rose's POV chapter. It's shorter than the other 9 (if I'm not mistaken), so I apologise for that._

_By the way, pretend that Dominique (Bill and Fleur's second daughter) is 2 years older than Rose._

_**Disclaimer:** Everything belongs to JK Rowling._

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CHAPTER 10

"Your rose is not going anywhere, Rosie."

She almost dropped her flower hearing the sudden comment. With her hand on her chest, Rose looked up to find her cousin looking at her with a smirk. "Dom! Don't do that."

Dominique just smiled as she took a seat in front of Rose. "Sorry," she mumbled. "It's just that it looks like you can't get enough of your rose." She started taking her parchment, books and quill out of her bag. "Who is it from, anyway?"

Rose shrugged off her shoulders, playing with the flower. "I don't know. There's no note."

"Not even a 'For You'?"

She shook her head this time. "Nothing."

"So you don't have a clue then?"

Rose sighed as she continued doing her homework. "Well, I think the person who sent this was a boy."

"That really narrows it down to … I don't know, hundreds? Thousands?" said Dominique, smiling again. After receiving a soft glare from the cousin, she continued, "Don't you have any other clue? For example, is he in your year or James'? Or maybe mine?"

"I don't know," answered Rose, sighing again. "Nobody seems to know." She looked up. "Albus said that the sender might even be a girl. He said that because this girl wanted me to think that the sender was a boy when actually it was a girl."

"And you think it's the opposite."

"Why, of course," she said, leaning in closer. "Wouldn't you? If you were me."

"Yeah."

"See?" said Rose, leaning back.

"But what Albus said is possible."

Rose rolled her eyes.

"Why? Are you actually hoping that it's from a boy?"

She seemed hesitant before finally answering, "Yeah, to be honest. I mean it's a bit weird receiving a rose from a girl, isn't it?" She suddenly widened her eyes when she saw the look on her cousin's face. "Wait, you're not the one who sent it, were you? I'm _really_ sorry if you were. I didn't mean to offend you."

Dominique laughed. "No, it wasn't me. Why would I give you a rose, anyway? It's not like I'm in love with you or anything."

"So you think the person who gave me the rose is in love with me?"

"Possibly, yeah," answered Dominique. "Is there another reason why?"

"Scorpius said that this person sent me as a thank you for always helping this person with their homework," said Rose. "And because they're too shy to come and talk to me in person, they gave me a rose. And since they don't want me to find out, they didn't write anything just in case I recognise their handwriting."

Dominique narrowed her eyes. "You know it's a bit suspicious."

"What is?" asked Rose, leaning in closer again.

"Albus and Scorpius, both of them had a point. But their reasons are too good," she answered. She lowered her voice down, "One of them might be the sender, I think."

"What?" Rose hissed. "You can't be serious. Albus is our cousin. Why would he send me a rose?"

Dominique shrugged. "Oh what about Scorpius, then? He's not our cousin. He's your friend. _Best_ friend, even. Don't you think it's possible for him to be the sender?"

Rose stayed quiet for a while. "But why did he send me a rose?"

"Just like what he said: he's thankful that you've been helping him with his homework. And as a thank you, he sent you a rose."

"But why didn't he just say thank you directly?"

"Maybe because he wanted his thank you to be special?" Dominique joked. She then smiled. "Why don't you ask him?"

Rose widened her eyes, her face a bit flushed. "I can't ask him."

"Why not? Aren't you curious?"

"Well, of course I am," she answered. "I've been going around the school to find out who the sender was." Rose sighed. "I can't exactly ask him whether he was the sender or not."

"Then, you're just going to wait until he admits it?"

Rose shrugged. "I guess so," she said. "I mean, what if he wasn't the sender? I'd look like a fool."

"What if he was? You never know."

She leaned back. "Then, what do you suggest I do? Just go straight to him and ask whether he was the sender or not?"

"If I were you, I would do that."

"Dom!" Rose whined. "You can't be serious. How do you expect me to do that?"

"Or do you want me to ask him?"

"Dom!" she repeated.

Dominique laughed. "Why are you so shy anyway?"

"I told you: what if he wasn't the sender?"

"I _really_ think Scorpius was the sender. He fancies you after all."

Rose's face had turned even redder. She looked down to her parchment to avoid looking at her cousin's eyes. She then continued doing her deserted homework.

"You don't have to be shy; everybody knows that you two fancy each other."

Rose just kept quiet, pretending to read her book when her mind was actually somewhere else.

"The only ones who don't are yourself and Scorpius," continued Dominique. "Both of you are too shy to admit your own feelings." She paused for a while. "You'd better get him before someone else does. One of my friends fancies him."

Rose immediately looked up. "Really?"

"Yeah, she always talks about Scorpius all the time. She even asks me to introduce him to her," she said before she snorted. "I don't even talk to him that much." She smiled. "I think she's a bit jealous that you're close to him."

"What? But we have the same classes every day. Of course we're close."

Dominique smiled even wider. "And the fact that you two always do homework together every night makes you even closer. Oh speaking of which," she started looking around, "where's Scorpius? Why are you alone tonight?"

"He's already done with his work. So he left me alone here; although it did take him several minutes to leave."

"Scorpius is already done and you're still doing your work?"

"Oh hush, Dom," said Rose, smiling. "This is for this Friday."

Dominique smiled as she shook her head. "By the way, do you think he's going to send you another rose tomorrow?"

"You really think it's from him?"

"Yes, I do. Who else?"

Rose was quiet for a while. "I don't know. Maybe he will, maybe he won't. We'll just have to wait for tomorrow morning." She sighed. "But I'm not going to lie: I'm sort of waiting for him to send me another one."

Dominique smiled again. "You really _do_ fancy this boy."

With her flushed face, Rose said, "Just do your homework, Dom."

* * *

_A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Don't forget to review. Please and thank you._

_Til next time.._


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: I have no excuse this time so all I can say is I am REALLY sorry for a very lack of update. But I did write this in one day; well it's short, so it doesn't make any difference. Anyway, I hope you can still enjoy this!_

_**Disclaimer**: Every character belongs to JK Rowling._

* * *

CHAPTER 11

Scorpius was sitting on his bed, figuring out what to write on the quill. Should it be her full name or only her first name? Or maybe just the initials? How about her last name? The more he thought about it, the more confusing it got.

Feeling like his head was about to explode, he scratched his head and stood from his seat. He paced back and forth, hand on his chin. _What to write?_

It was already time for the students to have their dinner down at the Great Hall. But seeing that Scorpius still had no idea on how to continue his task, he ignored the rumbling of his stomach and stayed on his room.

He suddenly stopped pacing and quickly ran back to his bed, finally knew what to write. He sat on the ground. But when he had his wand ready, his hand trembled. It was shaking so hard, Scorpius' eyes looked like they were about to come out.

"Why am I shaking?" he asked himself, throwing the wand to the other side of the room.

"You're too nervous, mate."

Scorpius almost jumped from his seat on the ground. He turned his head around and saw his friend standing near the door with a smile on his face. "Did you _have_ to do that?"

"Sorry," Albus apologised. But judging by the way he smiled, Scorpius didn't think that he was really sorry for surprising him. Albus then walked to his bed and took a seat. "You just have to write her name. What's so hard about that?"

"The fact that I only have two chances, that is," answered Scorpius, resting his head on the bed. "And what's worse is that I have no idea what to write."

"Her name."

"I know that," he replied, sighing. "I mean: should it be only her first name? Her last name? Her full name? Her initials?"

"I told you before, didn't I? Write her initials. Only two letters and it saves some space," said Albus. "You can even draw some decoration after that."

Scorpius snorted. "I can't even write her initials and now you're asking me to draw?" He snorted again.

"Do you want me to do it then?" Albus offered his help. "You know my writing is not that bad."

"Are you somehow implying that my writing is bad compared to yours? No," said Scorpius immediately. He then stood up from the ground and started looking for his wand. "I have to do this myself." After the wand was found, he walked to his bed and took a seat. "Now that I know what to write, I just have to figure out _how_ to write the initials."

Albus hung his head before looking up again. "Just try to write a simple one first on the paper here." He gave him a piece of paper which had Rose's name all over; from her full name to her initials. "Just write RW the way you normally write."

It took them another half hour to finally decide on the writing. They decided not to put any decoration as none of them was very good at drawing. And they didn't want to take any chances in making a mistake.

"Are you ready?" asked Albus.

Scorpius shook his head quickly.

"OK, let's go."

He looked at Albus. "What do you mean OK? I'm still not ready yet."

"Well, you still have to do it now anyway," he replied. "Come on, Scor. I'm starving."

"You can go down and have dinner first, you know."

"I want to make sure that you don't burn this whole place down," said Albus. "Besides if I didn't come here in the first place, you're still figuring out what to write. And you end up staying up all night doing it when it's just writing her initials."

Scorpius sighed. "OK, you have your point," he said. He looked at the quill in front of him again. He took a deep breath before letting it out. He kept on doing this for several times.

"You know you're just writing her initials, right? Not doing your exams or anything."

"I prefer doing exams than doing this because I know I'd do well."

Albus rolled his eyes. "Well then, think of this as an exam. You have five minutes left on the clock and all you have to do is write her initials on the quill. If you even make a small mistake, you would fail the task," he said. "In this case, you have one more chance to do it all over again."

"You're making me more nervous, Al."

"I'm trying to make this as close as possible to an exam."

Scorpius shook his head. "Even _I'm_ not this nervous before exams."

"I know you're brilliant, you don't have to rub it in my face."

"What?" he said, looking at Albus. "I didn't say that to mean anything like that."

Albus just smiled. "I know," he replied. "Come on. Just do it quickly. I told you: only five minutes left on the clock. Just think of going downstairs for dinner as the finish time." He paused for a while. "It is by the way. I am _really_ hungry."

"OK," he said, nodding his head. He finally looked in front, wand at the ready. When his hand (finally) stopped trembling, he murmured the spell he found this afternoon on a library book and started writing her initials. Less than five minutes later, he finished it. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Finally," mumbled Albus, lowering his wand on his hand that was used just in case Scorpius really burned the place down. He took the quill from Scorpius' hand and inspected it. "It really looked like it was done by a professional."

"Great. She wouldn't find out I did it, then," Scorpius said. "I really thought that my hand was about to fall off. It was kind of hot."

"And it still is," he replied before giving back the quill to Scorpius. "Put it somewhere safe. Somewhere you will remember tomorrow before you send it." He then stood up from his seat. "Now, let's go and eat."

When they arrived downstairs, people were already eating. Some of them were almost done even.

"What took you two so long?" asked James as both of them took a seat in front of the older friend. "I'm almost done with my dinner."

"Scorpius had to do something," answered Albus, starting to gather his dinner on his plate, followed by Scorpius. He then leaned in closer just in case someone could hear him. "He was preparing for the next gift for Rosie."

"But the only thing he had to do was write her initials, wasn't it?" replied James. "What's so hard about that?"

"That's what I asked him too," Albus whispered. "He had no idea what _and_ how to write the initials. _And_ he was too nervous to do it."

"You both know that I could hear everything you are saying, don't you?" mumbled Scorpius. "In the end, I did it anyway. Even though it took very long to do it."

James and Albus laughed.

* * *

_A/N: Now that my summer break is here, I can update it much faster than before. So hopefully you don't really have to wait that long for the next chapter to come up._

_Don't forget to review. ;]_

_Til next time.._


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: I actually finished this a week after the latest chapter. Hopefully I can maintain this quick update. I seriously have nothing else to do anyway._

_**Disclaimer:** Every character belongs to JK Rowling._

* * *

Chapter 12

"Scorpius!"

The person being called looked up from his plate. It turned out to be Rose, who was holding something in her hand, running towards him from the other side of the Great Hall. _I wonder why she has to run and scream my name from across the hall_.

"I think she's going to ask you about the quill she got," mumbled Albus, eating his dinner.

"That or she just wants to show off that she got a new one," said James.

"Or she just wants to ask me something else," said Scorpius. "Judging by the way she runs, I guess it's quite important."

"Shows how much he _actually_ knows her," James mumbled to his brother sitting on his left. Albus chuckled after hearing the comment from the older brother, whereas Scorpius snorted.

Rose finally arrived at their seats. She then sat just beside him, panting as she just ran. "Scorpius," she called out to him, seconds after her breath was normal again.

"Yes?"

"I've got something to tell you," she said. "Something important."

From the corner of his eyes, he saw the Potters trying hard to stifle their laughs as Scorpius actually guessed it correctly. Scorpius, himself, tried his hardest not to roll his eyes as Rose was waiting for a response from him. "And that is?" he said to her.

"I just got an owl from my Mum," answered Rose, waving the letter that she was holding in her hand before (_and I thought it was my gift_). "You remember that I asked you whether you could come to the Burrow this Christmas break?"

James and Albus stopped eating, while Scorpius calmly nodded.

"I already asked for her, and of course my Dad's permission and they said OK," she said. "They even said that you're allowed to spend some nights over there."

"You actually asked Scorpius first before you asked your parents?" asked James, smiling.

Rose just narrowed her eyes at him before turning to look at Scorpius again. "So since you have their permissions, you are welcome to visit m-_us_!" She blushed. "You are welcome to visit us," she repeated slowly.

Scorpius smiled as he realised that she almost said 'me' instead of 'us'. He still felt happy though as he was invited to come to the Burrow.

"Have you asked your parents yet?" asked Rose, still blushing.

"As a matter of fact, I did," answered Scorpius. "And I'll be visiting you all most probably in the Christmas afternoon." He paused. "Unfortunately though, I don't think I can spend some nights there. My parents and I are going to visit my grandparents on the next day."

He could see that she was a bit disappointed. "That's okay. As long as you come."

"Out of curiosity, why do you want Scorpius to come so badly?" asked Albus.

"Why do you ask?" Rose asked him back. "Jealous that I asked him, and not you?"

Albus smiled. "I'm always invited so you don't have to ask me," he replied. "So what is the answer?"

"The more, the merrier," she answered. "Am I not allowed to invite my friend over?"

"Of course you are," said Albus. "I'm just curious that you invited a bloke, instead of your friends who are girls."

Suddenly Rose smirked. "Albus, my dear cousin," she said before she leaned in closer. "If you want my friends to come to the Burrow, just say so. You don't have to be shy about it."

It was Albus' turn to blush causing the other three started laughing.

"You do?" asked James, making sure that he comprehended correctly.

Albus shoved his brother's shoulder. "I didn't _say_ that; Rose did," he said, childishly. He then turned his head to his cousin. "What I meant was: why didn't you invite them? Because then I could invite Scorpius here to come and visit us." He narrowed his eyes. "Are you not close with your friends?"

Still smiling, Rose replied, "They already had plans. Besides," she then looked at Scorpius, "this is the least he could do after I've helped him do his extra work not too long ago."

"Thank you by the way," said Scorpius whose heart was beating quickly as he saw her smiling at him.

"Oh, thanks for reminding me. I have to show you all something," said Rose, suddenly looking for something in her bag. "Though I'm sure you lot heard that I got another gift from that mysterious boy." Succeeded in finding that something, she took it out and showed it to the boys. It was a box with a quill inside.

Scorpius' heart started to pound faster once more.

She opened the box and took the quill out. "I got a quill from him." She turned it around to show the others the inscriptions at the bottom. "And he even got it inscribed with my initials on it."

"Wow," James made a comment; he acted as if he didn't know anything about it. He took the quill from his cousin's hand. "It looks great." His eyes wandered to Scorpius for a while before smiling at Rose.

"It does, doesn't it?" said Rose, taking back the quill. "The inscriptions are perfect. I think he went to the quill shop and asked the person there to have it inscribed." She looked at her initials as if they could give her some answer. "This must be expensive."

_It's not. I should've given you more if I know you're like this._

Rose sighed. "Too bad; I still don't know who the mysterious boy is," she said. "Had I known, I could thank him for sending me this wonderful gift."

"Which one do you like the most: the rose or this quill?" asked Scorpius, carefully.

"Both of them are wonderful," she said, still looking at the quill rather than her friends. "I can't decide." She paused. "Rose was unusual. I didn't expect anyone to give me a rose. Then again, it's probably because of my name." She paused again. "The quill … It was very thoughtful of him. I was going to buy a new one on the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend."

Without her knowing it, the other three boys shared a smile.

"It's a surprise that he knew my intention to buy a new quill."

"He knows you so well then," said Albus.

James suddenly stepped on his brother's shoe, worried that Albus just gave out a clue to Rose as to whom the sender was. "It might be because he thought you write a lot. So he bought you a quill."

"Why not a parchment then?" asked Rose. "Or maybe an ink."

_Maybe I should have bought her a whole set_.

"You can't inscribe both of the items you mentioned, my dear Rosie."

"That's true," she said, sighing.

"You know, you sound disappointed that he didn't buy you those two things," said Albus. He widened his eyes. "Don't tell me that you expected more?"

Rose smiled. "I'm allowed to expect more, am I not?"

"He might as well just buy every single thing you need," mumbled James.

It was Scorpius' turn to step on James' shoe. He gave the older friend a look that said, "Don't give her the idea. I don't own a shop."

It seemed like James got the idea as he saw him mouthing, "I'm sorry."

"Well, I'd better get eating then," said Rose. "I have some work to do."

The four of them then talked more about the upcoming Christmas break until Rose had to go to the library.

* * *

_A/N: Don't forget to review. Til next time.._


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: I decided to post this minutes before I go to sleep. So forgive me if you find any mistakes._

_**Disclaimer:** None of the characters belong to mine. They all belong to JK Rowling._

* * *

CHAPTER 13

"DOM!"

Dominique accidentally drew a long line on her parchment as she heard the loud whisper from someone who just came. Sighing, she turned around and saw who the culprit was: Rose who was smiling from ear to ear. "Rose! See what you did to my homework?"

Rose took a look at her cousin's parchment and immediately widened her eyes. "I am _so_ very sorry," she apologised. "I didn't mean to do that." She then took out her wand and cast a spell to erase the mistake. Succeeded, she smiled again. "As good as new."

"Good," said Dominique, inspecting her homework. "I don't want to do it again because I was almost done." She looked up. "So what brought you here?" Before Rose could answer, though, she already answered her own question. "Wait, never mind. You're here to do some late night reading."

"That, some homework and," Rose dramatically paused to take a seat in front of her cousin. She leaned in closer. "I've got something to tell you."

"What about?"

Rose smiled. "I got another gift from the mysterious boy."

"Don't you mean Scorpius?" asked Dominique, a bit too loud.

The younger cousin immediately placed her hand on Dominique's mouth, afraid that people might hear them. "Don't say his name so loud. People might think that we're talking about him."

Dominique took the hand covering her mouth. "We are, anyway," she replied. "Besides, don't care about what they think." She smiled. "So what did you get this time?"

Rose's eyes suddenly lit up and took the box out of her bag. "He gave me a quill with my initials inscribed on it," she answered, giving her the quill. "Isn't it very thoughtful of him? I've been meaning to buy one myself, but he bought it for me."

"This is very nice," Dominique made a comment while inspecting the quill. "This is really neat." She looked up. "Is this hand-made or did he go to the quill shop?"

"I don't know," answered Rose, shrugging off her shoulders. "I think he asked someone to do it for him. But it might be possible for him to do it himself. There's a spell for that."

"Oh, wait. I suddenly remember something," said Dominique. "I saw Scorpius yesterday afternoon here, in the library." She looked from left to right, checking whether there were people nearby or not. "He was reading a book and copying something from it. And after he was done, he picked up his wand and started practising."

Rose blinked. "Wait, where were you? How did you know every single detail that he did yesterday?"

Dominique smiled. "I was just in front of him; a few seats before him actually," she answered. "I guess he was so engrossed in the work that he didn't realise I was watching him the whole time." She paused. "Do you think that yesterday was the day he did it?"

"Well, I got the quill this morning. So it _is_ possible that he did it yesterday," said Rose, taking back the quill. "But just because you saw him yesterday practising the wand movement and whatnots, doesn't mean that it was really him who sent it."

"I guess you still haven't asked him then?"

Rose shook her head. "I'm still not sure if he's the mysterious boy."

"Do you want me to ask Louis to ask him?" asked Dominique.

"What? No!" Rose immediately closed her mouth for being too loud for her liking. "I don't want anyone to ask him." She looked away as she looked a bit flushed. "I want him to admit it to me himself. And I want him to tell me the reason why he's been sending me all these."

Dominique sighed. "Suit yourself."

For a while, both of them were busy with their own things: Dominique with her deserted homework, Rose with her late night reading. They were so busy in fact, they didn't even realise that it was time for them to go back to their dormitory; the library was closing as the librarian had told them.

As they were gathering their things into their bags, Rose noticed a drop in temperature. "Don't you think it's a bit chilly in here?" she asked, rubbing her hands together to create heat.

Dominique looked up. "Maybe it's snowing," she made a guess. "I mean it _is_ winter now."

"Oh, speaking of which; you're coming to the Burrow for Christmas, aren't you?"

"Of course," answered Dominique, starting to walk out of the place followed by Rose. "We always are. Why'd you ask?"

Rose stayed quiet for a while, not wanting to lock eyes with Dominique. "There's one extra friend coming on that day."

"Friend?" she echoed. She paused. She then widened her eyes as she seemed to come to a realisation. "Wait. You mean Scorpius is coming?"

The younger girl just nodded.

"Why?" asked Dominique who immediately shook her head. "I mean, how did you convince him to come? Did you threaten him or something?"

Rose looked at her cousin. "What? No, of course not," she answered. "You know that I've been helping him for quite a while with his work. So in return, I asked him to come to the Burrow for Christmas. And he said yes."

"And he didn't mind?"

"He already asked his parents about it. They also said yes," she said, smiling.

Dominique smiled as she saw how happy her cousin looked. "You don't fancy the boy," she said as she looked in front. "You're in love with him, aren't you, Rosie?" Without waiting for a response (she already knew anyway that Rose was too shy to admit it), she laughed and placed her free arm around Rose's shoulder. "You've grown up."

"And so have you. We only differ by two years, Dom."

The older girl laughed. "Oh, that reminds me: have you asked for your parents' permission about Scorpius' visit?"

"Of course I have," answered Rose. "I addressed the owl to my parents, but Mum was the one who replied. Why?"

"Did you know that our parents have never got along with the Malfoys?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah, my parents told me about it," she said. "Dad said that Scor's Dad once said something horrible to Mum but they never told me what it was. All I know is that the word is something that nobody in this generation should know of." She paused. "I guess that shows how horrible the word was."

It was Dominique's turn to nod. "Well anyway, my reason asking you is: would your Dad mind that Scorpius is coming?"

Rose stayed quiet for a while. "I'm sure Mum has talked to him about it. I mean they tell each other everything," she said, though unsure. "Hope he doesn't mind. I'm sure Dad's forgiven Scorpius' Dad. It happened years ago." She suddenly turned her head to look at her cousin. "What do you think?"

"I think it's okay," she replied. "As long as Scorpius doesn't do anything that angers your Dad, it's fine. So you'd better keep an eye on that boy." She paused. "He's a great kid, by the way."

"He is," Rose agreed, nodding her head. "I hope Dad would see that too."

Dominique smiled. "Well I think we'd better hurry," she said, walking faster. "It's almost midnight."

* * *

_A/N: Review please. By the way, the next chapter would be the Christmas in the Burrow._

_Til next time.._


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: I wanted this chapter to be slightly longer than the previous ones. So that's one of the reasons why it took some time for me to upload. Another reason was something came up and I had to stay back at my hometown for a while. Anyway, hope you enjoy this._

_By the way, I didn't really read it again to check if it's error-free or if it's readable, because it's quite late right now. So if you find some error(s), please forgive me._

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters._

* * *

CHAPTER 14

"_Dear Scorpius,_

_The day to see her and the family is tomorrow. Are you ready? Have you memorised all the things related to the family?_

_Just kidding. They won't ask you._

_Anyway, my Dad and I will come and pick you up by the Floo tomorrow at noon. Be ready by then. See you tomorrow._

_Albus."_

Scorpius kept reading the letter even if he had read it more than once. He couldn't believe his eyes – the day to visit the Burrow had actually come. He'd been waiting for it as he hoped that maybe the friendship between Rose and him would be even closer than before. It may even lead to a relationship.

He blushed and shook his head. He didn't think that Rose would accept his love. She might like him a bit, but maybe that's because they were friends. If they're friends, they must like each other, right? _Right?_

He put down the letter from his hand and turned off his light. He walked to his bed and got ready to sleep as it was midnight. He'd been up for a while thinking about tomorrow. He's nervous; what if the family asked him to go back? What if they said there's no room for one more? What if none of them wanted him there? What if Rose was just joking when she saw him? Saying that it was just a joke that she asked him to come?

He couldn't sleep properly that night. He kept tossing and turning on the bed; nightmares kept coming. But after calming himself, saying that he was just imagining things, sleep finally took over. He could then close his eyes and doze off.

* * *

"How are you going to the Burrow, Scorpius?" asked Draco Malfoy.

"Albus and his Dad are picking me up later."

"Have you packed up everything?" asked Astoria Malfoy. "Are you prepared?"

"Mum," the son whined. "I'm only going for a short while. I've got nothing to pack."

Several hours later, Harry and Albus Potters arrived at the Malfoy residence. Dusting off all the dust and ashes, they stepped out of the fireplace. Realising that they had accidentally dirtied the carpet, Harry mumbled a sorry and with a flick of his wand, it was as good as before. Harry politely smiled and approached the small family. "Draco."

"Harry," replied Draco, nodding his head once.

"I hope we're not interrupting anything."

Astoria smiled. "Don't worry about it, Harry," she said. "Although I _do_ wonder why you're here sooner than expected."

"We are?" said Harry, tilting his head slightly. "Albus –"

"I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy. I think I've written the wrong time," Albus apologised. "I should have checked it before I sent it to Scorpius yesterday."

Harry tousled his son's hair. He then turned towards the owners of the house. "Sorry about that."

Astoria smiled again. "That's okay I guess. Scorpius has nothing to pack anyway."

"Well then, we'd better get going," said Harry, clapping his hands once. "We're already late to be honest."

All of them walked towards the fireplace. Albus was the first to go. After he said his goodbye to the Malfoys, he took a handful of Floo powder before shouting 'The Burrow!' and he disappeared.

Scorpius was next. He did what his friend did and off he went. He had never liked Floo-ing. The feeling of being thrown here and there made him sick to the stomach. He had never tried the Portkey and Apparation. But hearing from his parents and the books, he thought that he might not like the two either. He would rather walk or maybe use the broom for transportation.

"All right there, mate?" asked James who went to greet him as he stepped out of the fireplace. He laughed as he saw Scorpius dusting off his clothes. "I assume this wasn't your first Floo?"

Scorpius shook his head as he coughed. "But I still hate Floo-ing."

"Then I guess you'd hate Apparating even more," said Albus, smirking at him.

"Shut it," mouthed Scorpius at his friend, causing him to laugh.

"Come on," Albus said, gesturing him to come closer. "James and I will show you around."

James placed his hand around Scorpius' shoulder. "We'll introduce you to the big family."

While introducing himself to the family, Scorpius silently hoped that nobody would ask him questions. He had a hard time remembering their names, especially the grandchildren he hadn't met before (he didn't even know there were so many of them). The people he remembered were mostly his friends he usually met or had at least met once before in school, Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley-Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger-Weasley, Arthur Weasley, and Molly Weasley. The rest of them were too hard to remember at such a short time.

The rest of the afternoon went all right. Nobody had asked him questions about their names. And at lunch, he was sat in between James and Albus (not their relatives whose names were still too hard for him to remember). Unfortunately Rose was sitting too far away for him to have a conversation with. And what's more was her father had been eyeing him ever since he had introduced himself to the older man. It was a bit scary because he looked like he could eat Scorpius alive.

_Don't be ridiculous, Scorpius. That's just your imagination_, he thought. _Rose's father is an Auror, not some monster in disguise_.

After lunch, everyone was gathered in the living room including Scorpius. He was sitting on the ground with the rest of the grandchildren of Weasleys, talking about some things on their minds. But he was nowhere near Rose as James and Albus had pulled him to sit on the side where nobody could listen to their conversation.

"Hey, Scor, have you given her a present yet?" whispered James.

Scorpius shook his head. "No, because I still don't know what to give her," he answered. "I've already told her on the letter I gave her this early morning." He paused. "I haven't got the time to do some shopping either, so I will give her and you two your presents a bit later."

"You know you don't have to buy us some presents," said Albus. "We're fine without."

"But you two gave me something, so in return I have to give you something as well."

James smiled. "That's all right. Take your time; no rush."

It was Scorpius' turn to smile.

"By the way, what did you get from her?" asked Albus.

"I haven't got anything from her," he answered. "She said in her letter that she's going to give me later here. But she didn't say when."

"But I didn't see her holding anything in her hands when Dad and Albus went to get you," said James, tilting his head a bit.

"Maybe she already placed it somewhere else," said Albus. "You don't expect her to hold the present the whole day, do you?"

James and Scorpius nodded their heads simultaneously.

"Hey," someone had come and greeted the three of them, causing them to look up. "You three want to join us?"

"Where are you all going?" asked James.

"Outside," answered Rose. "We could walk around the area or maybe play in the snow."

The other three started standing up.

"Good idea," said James. "It's a bit hard trying to talk without the parents eyeing us."

They laughed as they started towards the door. Putting on their required attires for the winter, they went out of the house and started running in the snow, happy to finally be outside. The younger ones began to throw some snowballs at each other, whereas the rest took a stroll around to have a chat.

"How's your day so far?" asked Rose as she and Scorpius walked together, having been left by her cousins to play in the snow. "Having fun?"

"I am now," he answered. "Don't take this the wrong way but your family somehow scares me." He shuddered and heard her laughing. "I felt their eyes on me wherever I was going."

She smiled. "I'm sorry about that. They won't kill you, I'm sure."

Scorpius laughed. "I haven't been alone yet so I'm sure the time would come for them to kill me when I'm not with you lot." He laughed again, this time together with Rose. As he watched the Potters and Weasleys throw each other some snowballs, he smiled. "Rose."

"Yes?"

"Thanks for inviting me here," he said, looking at her earnestly. "If I wasn't invited, I wouldn't know what to do at home by myself."

Rose smiled. "Well I'm glad I've put you out of your misery," she said. "You're welcome." She paused and looked at her cousins playing and running around. "Well, I'm glad you're here with me, talking right now. Even Dom chucked me to play with the others."

"Why don't you play with them then?"

"But then you'd be alone," she answered. "Then you'd rather go home than stay here."

"You know that I don't mind playing with them."

Rose nodded. "I know. But since you got here, we haven't been able to talk until just now."

It was Scorpius' turn to smile. _She just indirectly said that she'd rather be with me than play with her cousins._

"Now that we're alone, we should talk more," she said with a slight blush on her cheeks (_is it because of the cold or embarrassment for saying that?_), "before the others force us to play too."

"Err, before that, can you show me the way to the toilet please?" asked Scorpius. "I suddenly have the urge to go."

Rose blushed again. "Oh," she mumbled. "Okay, let's go." She paused for a while. "I have to go to my Dad's old bedroom anyway. Your present is there."

With their faces red from embarrassment, they went up the stairs. Once they reached the bathroom, they went on their separate ways as Rose had to go to Ron's old bedroom whereas Scorpius went in.

As promised, he had to wait in front of the bathroom door to wait for Rose to come in case he finished before Rose did. So he leaned against the wall, his eyes wandering around the view of the house. His eyes then caught a desk beside him that was filled with family pictures. He walked towards it to kill some time while waiting.

Scorpius saw a picture of the complete Weasley family, from Arthur Weasley to the smallest grandchild. He wasn't sure who it was; it was either Lucy or Roxanne. He still couldn't figure out which.

The next few pictures were of the children's families, from the oldest to the youngest. But his eyes went back to the Ron Weasley's family. It was a picture taken a few years ago, he judged by how young both Rose and Hugo looked. Rose was sitting in front of her father who was lying on his side with a cat resting on her lap, whereas Hugo was on his mother's lap. They all had wide smiles on the picture.

He wondered why Rose had never told him about the orange cat before.

"I'm sorry," said Rose who had returned from the bedroom upstairs.

Scorpius looked up to see her standing not too far away from him. "Why are you apologising?"

"I forgot where I put your present so I had to look around the room."

He smiled. "That's okay," he said. "I was looking at the pictures there so I had no idea how long you went."

"Well, here you go," she said, offering her the present.

"Thank you," he said with a smile on his face, taking the gift. "Once again, I'm sorry. Your present will come later."

Rose smiled as she shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I can do without." Before Scorpius could reply, she continued, "But since you insist on giving me a present, I will wait for it patiently. Even if my gift comes next year, I will still wait for it. I don't mind."

Scorpius smiled. "That's too long. I'm not that mean."

She laughed. "Anyway, had fun looking at the pictures? Especially mine when I was much younger than I am now?"

"You're still the same, don't worry," he said, earning a smile from her again. He took a look at the picture again, followed by her. "When was this taken?"

She paused for a while to remember. "Around two to three years ago, probably," she answered. "Why'd you ask?"

"No, I was just wondering: why haven't you told me about this cat before?"

"Oh," she mumbled. "That was my Mum's cat. His name was Crookshanks." She smiled. "My Mum had it ever since she was in her third year. My Dad used to hate the cat for some reason I still don't know of." She laughed before she paused again. "He died a few months before I went to Hogwarts."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"We all cried, except for my Dad. But I know that he's really sad too that Crookshanks was gone." She paused. "Even though he was old and didn't really do anything but sleep and eat, I loved him. Everybody did." Rose looked at her friend beside him and suddenly widened her eyes as she realised what she just did. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have rambled on and on about the cat."

Scorpius smiled and shook his head. "That's all right. I asked you about him and you answered. That cat was important to you, wasn't it?"

Rose nodded. "He was more important to my Mum, but I guess you could say that too. I used to play with him whenever I was bored, especially those two years before Hugo was born."

_I think I know what to give her. The problem is –_

"Oh."

"What is it?" he asked as he saw her eyes widened again for the second time that day.

She suddenly blushed and looked away. "There's a … something on the door near you."

"What?" he asked and looked behind him. His eyes were suddenly widened as well as he saw what made her blush. _I didn't realise there was some mistletoe here_.

For a while, none of the two moved a muscle. They just stayed still; both looking anywhere but each other.

"I didn't know there was some mistletoe here," mumbled Scorpius, still not looking at her.

"Me neither," her voice was as quiet as his was. "I didn't ask you to wait for me here because I knew there was."

_Okay, calm down, mate. You're more nervous than your first exam_. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He did it for a couple more times before daring himself to look at her. _You can do this_.

Rose was now looking at the pictures on the desk. She looked redder than he had ever seen.

Scorpius cleared his throat. "Err," he mumbled before he gulped. He then suddenly remembered that he was holding the gift from her on his hands. He had an idea.

He came closer to her and placed his gift on the table. He then put his hands on both her cheeks before placing a soft kiss on her forehead. He did it so fast that Rose couldn't do anything about it. She just stared at him, not even blinking.

"Err, that's for the gift," said Scorpius, blushing from his head to toe. "I promise I'll give you a better one someday." He then picked up his present and immediately ran from that place. He ignored the family who had their eyes on him and went out of the house to search for a quiet place where nobody could see. _What have I done?_

He didn't know how long he had sat there, but all of the sudden Albus and James came with worried faces. He reckoned he'd gone for quite long. He looked at them and mumbled, "I kissed her."

* * *

_A/N: I don't know if the Burrow has snow during winter or not, so please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks for reading. And (most) probably correcting me on the weather. Don't forget to review._

_Til next time.._


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: This chapter turned out to be harder than I thought. But I finally finished this._

_Thanks to Avanell and Kathy T who gave me some idea of what Scorpius should give her. The conversation between Albus, James and Scorpius is actually based on what they had told me and what I thought about the idea. So this is how it turned out. Enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer:** Every character belong to JK Rowling._

* * *

CHAPTER 15

"I kissed her."

For a while, none of the Potter brothers said anything. They just stayed quiet as they expected him to continue the sentence. But realising that Scorpius just stared at them without a word, one of them opened his mouth to ask him a question.

"Where?" asked James, just as quietly.

"On the forehead," replied Scorpius.

James tried his hardest not to laugh at him. He took a deep breath, calming himself. "No, I mean where did you kiss her? Which part of the house?"

"Oh," he mumbled, looking down at his fingers as he was too embarrassed to look at his friends. "Upstairs. Near the bathroom."

"What were you doing up there?"

"Well come to think of it, you two suddenly disappeared when the rest of us were playing outside," said Albus. "Did you go upstairs with her?"

Scorpius looked up. "Yeah, I wanted to go to the toilet and she had to go to her Dad's old bedroom. She placed my present in there."

"So what happened?" asked James. "What made you kiss her?"

"Well, she asked me to wait near the bathroom door after I finished. While we were talking, she suddenly realised that there was some mistletoe just behind me." Scorpius paused. "And I just kissed her forehead. I told her that it was for the present."

"You're going to give her something else later, right?" asked Albus. "You can't possibly think that the kiss was her present, right?"

"Of course I'm going to give her something else," he answered. "This present is too nice to only be exchanged by a mere kiss on the forehead." Scorpius looked to the left where he had put the present from her. "Do you know what she gave me?" Without waiting for a reply, he looked up and answered his own question, "She gave me this book," he took the book from the ground and showed it to them, "I've been looking for this book for a year already. It's really hard to find this in any bookshops." He paused. "It's a wonder, really, how she found this."

"Maybe because she knows where to buy rare books."

Scorpius nodded. "This might be one of the nicest things people have ever given me."

"Hey, we are very insulted," said James as he placed his hand on his chest for dramatic effect. "Are you saying that the gifts we got you are not nice?"

Albus shook his head and sighed dramatically. "I didn't know you were like this, Scor."

"Oh, shut it. You know what I meant," he said. "You know that I liked your presents too. Now all I have to think about is what to give you both. I already know what to give her."

James smiled. "Okay, first of all: we're both glad that you liked the presents, even though I'm sure you liked her present more."

"More like 'loved'," mumbled Albus.

"Yes, that's true," James agreed. "Anyway, second of all: we told you to take some time. We don't need the presents now. And third of all – and this one is a question – what are you going to give her? You have an idea already?"

Scorpius nodded. "When I was waiting for her, I saw some pictures of your family. And one of those was Rose's where she was holding an orange cat named," he paused for a while to think about what the cat was called. "I forgot what it's called."

"Crookshanks," said Albus.

"Wait," James said suddenly. "Don't tell me that you're going to give her a cat?"

Scorpius blinked. "Well, that wasn't what I had in mind," he said slowly. "I was thinking of giving her a stuffed animal that looks similar to … Crookshanks?" He looked at Albus to make sure he got the name right. As he got a nod from his friend, he looked at James again. "But your idea is great too. But I wonder how much a cat is. Isn't it expensive?"

"You could also buy a kitten," Albus suggested. "Maybe it's a bit cheaper?"

"Really?"

Albus shrugged. "I'm not sure myself. We don't have a cat at home."

"What do you think?" asked Scorpius to the oldest Potter.

"I think it's cheaper to buy a kitten."

It was Scorpius' turn to resist the urge to laugh. "I mean, what do you think I should give her?"

James laughed as he realised his mistake. "It's up to you, really. I mean you're the one who's giving the present, not us."

"Oh which reminds me, what did you two get her?" asked Scorpius.

"The same thing that we gave you."

He blinked. "A book?"

Albus nodded. "The very same book." He smiled. "And some parchments and ink. She said she needed those. So we bought some for her."

"Well speaking of the same thing, can I buy the same things for you both?" asked Scorpius. "For example, if I buy James a book, can I buy Albus the same book?"

James sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you that it's up to you?" He shook his head. "Seriously, you can buy us anything. Even though I don't read books as much as you three, I will still read the book eventually since you bought it for me."

"You know that it was just an example?" Scorpius said.

"And I was just telling you that I would read the book if you gave me one." James paused. "You can even buy us one thing so that Al and I can share. Sharing is caring."

"But if it's like that, it'd be difficult. Don't you think, James?" asked Albus. "We don't live in the same room, so it'd be hard for me if I wanted to borrow the book. What if I wanted to borrow the book and you're still reading it?"

Scorpius was confused. "You both know that the book was just an example, don't you? And you know that I'll buy two things for you." He paused as he realised what they were doing. "And why are we talking about this?"

"You're the one who started it," said James, childishly. "So I just followed."

Albus shook his head. "And we're still talking about it," he mumbled as he looked down. He turned to look at Scorpius. "Mate, it's really up to you what to give us and Rose. We really don't mind. It's the thought that counts, yeah?"

Scorpius nodded. "I know," he said. "But what if I buy you lot something and you just chuck it because you don't like it?"

"Come on, we're not _that_ mean."

He nodded again as if to remind himself that his friends would accept the gifts no matter what. He leaned against the tree and sighed. He looked away to enjoy the view of the Burrow. "I think I'm going to the Diagon Alley soon, to find out the price of a cat. And a kitten as well. And look for a stuffed cat that looks like Crookshanks." He paused. "And find what to give you lot." He turned his eyes to his friends. "There should be some shops that open during the break, right? I don't want to delay this any longer."

James shrugged. "Not so sure, mate. But there should be some."

Albus suddenly stood up from his seat. "Come on, Scor. I think you've been out here for a while. I'm sure everyone's looking for you." He ran his hands up and down his arms. "It's getting colder too."

"Oh, what time are you going home?" asked James to Scorpius. "I forgot to ask my Dad. He's going to take you home, right?"

Scorpius nodded. "Well, my Mum asked me to go back before dinner. So maybe around 6 or so."

James and Scorpius stood up and together the three of them raced to the door to get in and warm themselves.

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for reading. Don't forget to review. Til next time.._

_P.S: Can some of you give me a suggestion of what should be the last gift for Rose? Thank you.._


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who has given me ideas for the last gift for Rose. I really appreciated every single one. It's still hard for me to decide though. Having said that, this is not the chapter with the last gift. This is a Rose's POV's chapter when she receives a Christmas present from Scorpius. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: All characters belong to JK Rowlling._

* * *

CHAPTER 16

There was a knock on her door. Before she could look up and stand from her seat to open it, the newcomer let himself in. It was his brother, holding a neatly wrapped gift in his hands.

"Hugo," she whined, "How many times do I have to tell you to knock on the door and wait for me to get it? What if I wasn't decent?"

"You should have locked the door then." He then took a seat beside his sister. "You know I'm not the only boy in the house."

Rose snorted. "Actually you are. Dad is not a boy anymore; he's an adult, a grown-up."

"You know what I mean, Rosie."

She laughed. "Well, you got your point. I should have let the door open if I'm only reading. I'm sorry," she said. "So what brings you to my room?"

"This package just came," he said, giving her the gift.

Rose mumbled a thank you as she took the gift from her brother's hands. "Wonder who it's from," she mumbled again. She carefully unwrapped it as she thought the wrapping paper was too nice to be torn apart. She opened the box and gasped when she saw what's inside.

"What is it?" asked Hugo, impatiently.

She didn't answer; instead she took out the thing that surprised her.

"Who's it from?"

Rose placed it on her bed as she found a letter in the box. She then started reading it:

"_Dear Rose,_

_I'm sorry it took some time for me to buy this. But I hope you'd still enjoy it._

_Scorpius_

_P.S: I wanted to buy you a real one, but it was quite expensive. And I didn't want my parents to know."_

"Scorpius?"

Rose was startled at her brother's question. She clutched her chest, trying to sooth her heart beat. "Hugo, don't do that," she said, looking at him who was reading the letter over her shoulder. "And why were you reading my letter?"

"I wanted to know who the sender was," answered Hugo, taking his seat back to her bed. "Hey, Scorpius is the one who came to the Burrow last Christmas, isn't he?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Why did he only give you the present now?" he asked. "He met you not too long ago. Why didn't he give you then?"

Rose put the letter down and took the stuffed animal. "He had some trouble finding me one. He didn't know what to give me so he asked me to give him some time." She started stroking the stuffed cat. "I had no idea he'd give me this." She then showed it to her brother. "Don't you think it sort of looks like Crookshanks?"

"I didn't realise that until you pointed it out," said Hugo, taking it to his hands. He looked up. "Wait, is it just a coincidence that it looks like Crookshanks or he knows that we had Crookshanks?"

"I told him that we used to have him," answered Rose. She smiled as she took the toy from him. "And maybe he got the idea from the story."

Hugo smiled. "You're really happy that you got this from him."

"How can I not? Usually people give me books, or something that's related to studies. He's the only one who gives me this," she said. She looked up. "Even _you_ gave me a book."

"It was a photo album, not a book," he corrected her. "I haven't got enough money to buy you something else. Even that one was quite pricey."

Rose smiled and tousled his hair gently. "And I still love it. Thank you."

"You're welcome," he grinned. "Anyway, I have a question I've been meaning to ask you ever since I saw him in the Burrow."

She sighed. "Did Mum or Dad ask you to come upstairs and ask me something about Scorpius?" she asked. "Because there's nothing going on between us. We're just friends." _I wish we weren't_, she continued her unfinished sentence in her mind.

"No," Hugo answered. "Well, Mum asked me to give you the package. That's all."

Rose sighed again. "So what's the question?"

"Why did you invite him to the Burrow?"

She tilted her head slightly. "We're friends. Am I not allowed to invite my friends?"

"Isn't he Albus and James' friend too?" he asked. "Why didn't they invite him?"

"Scorpius owed me something so I asked him first," she answered. "That's the least he could do after I helped him with his extra homework and whatnots."

"Don't you have friends who are girls?"

Rose narrowed her eyes at him. "You've been hanging out with Albus too much," she mumbled. "Yes, I do have friends who are girls. Why? Did you want girls to be invited instead?"

"It's not that. I'm just wondering why you invited him."

"Am I forbidden to invite a boy for Christmas?" she asked, before shaking her head several times. "And why are we talking about this? Would you mind getting out of my room? I'd like to finish my book, Hugo."

Hugo just stayed in his seat. "Come on, Rosie," he whined. "Ever since you got back from school, we haven't talked that much. We haven't seen each other for months!"

Rose smiled. "Aww, you missed me that much, eh?" she said as she tousled his hair again. She laughed as he moved out of her reach. "Well then, let's talk." Before Hugo could open his mouth, she added, "Other than why I invited Scorpius to the Burrow."

"But I have another question about him."

She sighed. "You know, I still don't believe that Mum or Dad didn't send you here to ask me about him." She let out a deep breath. "Fine, what is it?"

Hugo smirked. "Are you sure that you and Scorpius are just friends?"

Rose narrowed her eyes again. "Who are you? Are you sure you're Hugo? What's with the serious question?"

His grin disappeared. "You want me to prove it to you that I'm Hugo?" he asked. Without even allowing her to answer, he continued, "I'm sure I'm the only one who knows this because if I remember correctly, you asked me not to tell anyone. Three months ago, you asked me, your brother who's two years younger than you, to get rid of a _tiny_ spider on your bed –"

"It wasn't tiny at all!" Rose cut in. "It was huge."

"Huge is an elephant. That spider was as tiny as a … mosquito."

"No, it wasn't. It's bigger than your palm."

"You're exaggerating."

"I am not!" she screamed. Rose then closed her eyes and took a deep breath, calming herself. She opened her eyes. "However big or small the spider was, it was still scary. So thank you very much for reminding me about that, Hugo."

"You're welcome," said Hugo. "At least now you know I'm Hugo."

Rose rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Anyway, you haven't answered my question, Rosie. Are you two really just friends?"

She sighed. _I wonder how many times I sigh today_. "Yes, Scorpius and I are just friends. Why? Can't a girl be friends with a boy now?"

"Of course you can," he said. "I'm asking you that because I saw you two in front of the bathroom upstairs in the Burrow. You two were talking and suddenly he –"

Rose squeaked and immediately covered her brother's mouth with her hand. "Don't you dare continue the sentence," she hissed. "And I will punch you in the face if you stick out your tongue."

Hugo just nodded his head. After he was released, he let out a deep breath. "You know, for a girl you're really violent."

"Oh, shut it," she said. "And don't mention anything about the incident at the Burrow to Mum and Dad. I won't hesitate to be even more violent to you."

"Fine, I'm sorry," he apologised, pouting his lips a bit. "Can I at least continue the sentence now? I promise I won't say exactly what he did." He then started putting on his best pouty face. "It will just be our little secret, along with Scorpius of course."

She let out another sigh. "Fine, continue." _Now I wonder how many times we both say fine_.

Hugo stayed quiet for a while, remembering what he wanted to say. "Ah, you two were talking and suddenly he did _that_. He then ran off and I had to hide in one of the rooms so he wouldn't find out that I was actually there." He paused. "I don't think friends do _that_."

"I still can't believe that you came up here and asked me those questions that you thought off by yourself," she mumbled. "Well, there's nothing wrong with _that_. Why can't friends do that?" She paused, thinking that he might reply. But since all he did was looking at her, she continued, "Besides, it was just a … thing on the forehead. It's like saying thank you."

"You didn't do it to me when I gave you the photo album," said Hugo, childishly. "You just said thank you and messed up my hair as usual."

Rose grinned. "Aww, are you saying that you want me to kiss your forehead? Because I don't mind, you know."

Hugo looked away. "No," he mumbled, with a blush on his cheeks.

She tousled his hair for the third time that day. She then placed her hand on his cheek, gently asking him to look at her. "It really _was_ a thank you, by the way. I gave my present to him and he did that to me as a thank you. And it was because there was some mistletoe at the door."

"So he did that because he was grateful for the present you gave him?"

Rose nodded.

"And not because you're going out with him?"

She blinked. "What-what gave you that idea?" _Seriously, is he my brother or someone is playing a dirty trick on me?_

Hugo shrugged. "You two seemed close."

Rose kept quiet for a while to think of an answer. "Well, we're best friends. So we're really close."

"Rose, Hugo! Time for lunch!" their mother screamed from downstairs.

She had never felt as relieved as she did on that day. She quietly let out a breath. "You go first, Hugh. I'll join you later," she said to her brother. "I, err, have to reply to Scorpius and thank him." Just before Hugo went out of her room, she called him, "Don't forget what you promised me."

"Yes, yes. I won't tell Mum and Dad about the thing at the Burrow," he said, before disappearing out of her view.

Rose immediately closed the door and walked back to her bed. She took the orange stuffed animal. "It must have been hard for him to find this," she mumbled. "This _really_ does look like Crookshanks." She smiled and took the letter. She re-read it, especially the last two lines. "Wait, was he going to buy me a real cat?" She read it again. "I'd better ask him."

She went to her desk and looked for a piece of parchment and a quill. She started writing for a reply.

_"Dear Scorpius,_

_I got your present not too long ago. Thank you! I didn't think that you would give me a stuffed animal that looks exactly like Crookshanks. I really appreciated it. I'll give the toy as much love as I gave my cat._

_You know, I should have given you something else. That book was nothing compared to your gift to me. I should have given it more thought. I should have given you something that you'd remember for the rest of your life. Well, I have some time until your birthday._

_Thank you once again for the cat. I really love it!_

_Rose_

_P.S: Did you really want to buy me a real cat? I'd rather have a stuffed animal because I could keep it forever. Nevertheless, it was really thoughtful of you._

After sealing it with an envelope, Rose kept the letter hidden on her back pocket. She then walked back to her bed and took the stuffed animal again. She bit her lip as she didn't want to scream in happiness and got herself in trouble for screaming so loud in the afternoon. Instead, she squealed and hugged the small cat.

"This is one of the best Christmas gifts anyone has ever given me."

"Rose! It's time for lunch!"

Rose immediately placed back the stuffed cat on her bed and ran downstairs. After giving the envelope to the family owl to send it to Scorpius, she joined her small family for lunch. For the rest of the day, she had a big smile on her face.

* * *

_A/N: It's always hard for me to write Hugo because the way I write him makes him seem more mature for his age (in this story he's around 10). But since he's Hermione's son, I guess it kind of makes sense. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this. Don't forget to review._

_Til next time.._


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: To be honest, I wanted this chapter to be the last chapter of the story. But seeing that I got A LOT of suggestions for the last present, I decided to make it longer. Hopefully I won't bore you with the upcoming chapters._

_**Disclaimer:** None of the characters belong to me._

* * *

CHAPTER 17

"Will you stop reading the letter with that look on your face?"

Scorpius blushed and immediately pushed the letter inside his bag before any of them could take it away from him. "Shut it. I don't have that look on my face."

James snorted. "Of course you do," he said, not looking up from his work. "You always look like you want to go upstairs to her room and snog her until you both run out of your breath." He then looked up, smirking. "Don't you just want to do that?"

Scorpius narrowed his eyes at his friend even though he was still blushing. He looked away and continued doing his deserted work.

"Well speaking of which, she really _did_ like your present," said Albus, looking up from his own work. "She couldn't stop talking about it when we met her in King's Cross. She kept on saying that she liked it and asked us about the opinion on the stuffed cat that she always had on her hands."

James laughed. "I remember Aunt Hermione asking her to put it somewhere safe so she wouldn't drop it, while Uncle Ron told her not to bring it to Hogwarts since she's almost 13."

"She liked it _that_ much."

Scorpius bit his lip to prevent himself from smiling at Albus' last sentence. He now knew how much Rose liked the stuffed Crookshanks. And if he wanted to be honest, he thought she might even love it. He didn't regret that he decided to take some time in buying her the present. His mind drifted off to the day he went to the Diagon Alley.

**-FLASHBACK-**

"_Mum, I'm going now."_

_Astoria looked up from her book she was currently reading. "Where are you going?"_

_Scorpius bent down as he tied his shoe laces near the fireplace. "I'm going to the Diagon Alley, remember? I told you yesterday."_

"_Oh yes, I remember now," his mother replied. "Do you want me to accompany you there, love? I have nothing to do at home anyway."_

_He looked up, having finished with his shoes. As he grabbed a handful of Floo powder and then walked up to the inside of the fireplace, he answered, "No, that's all right. I can go by myself."_

_Astoria smiled. "Okay then, have fun looking for presents," she said. "Don't be long."_

"_I won't," replied Scorpius, smiling at her. "I'll be back even before you finish the book."_

_Mrs Malfoy laughed. "But I'm only left with two pages, dear. I don't think you even reach your destination by the time I finish this."_

_It was Scorpius' turn to laugh. "Bye, Mum."_

"_Bye, Scorpius. Be careful."_

"_I will," he replied just before he threw the Floo powder to the ground and shouted, "Diagon Alley!" loud and clear so he wouldn't get lost. It would be the last thing he would want to be. Before he knew it, he had arrived at the destination. Dusting off the dirt on his clothes and hair, he stepped out of the fireplace slowly and carefully as he was still dizzy from the journey._

_Taking several deep breaths, he walked out to the slightly empty street. Left and right he looked, and he noticed that some of the shops were still closed due to the long break. Even that one shop that he knew sold stuffed animals was closed. He sighed._

_Still walking with less confidence now, he suddenly saw a pet shop that was open. His eyes lit up and he immediately ran inside. There were many animals there: owls, toads, dogs, rats, snakes. He looked around and he finally found a small corner reserved for the animal he was looking for: cats!_

_Before his eyes could light up for the second time that day, those eyes were suddenly widened as he saw the price of that specific animal. "Bloody hell," he mumbled, his eyes still looking at the price. "I didn't know it would be _this_ expensive." He gulped._

_Scorpius then walked again, his eyes never leaving the prices. The further away he was from the entrance of the shop, the more ridiculous the price was. They were even more expensive when they were still kittens. He sighed as he reached the end._

_When he walked back, he heard the cats meowing and felt their eyes on him. Scared that he might buy it without second thoughts, he immediately went out of the store and walked away without looking back. He shook his head and muttered, "I can get her something else. It doesn't have to be a real cat."_

_Scorpius let out a deep breath and continued his search. He was about to give up and thought of buying her something out of the ordinary when he saw another small shop that sold animals. This time though, he noticed that this shop also had stuffed animals. So with determination that he would find a copy of Crookshanks, he went in._

_The prices of the cats here were even more expensive. Scorpius felt like turning back to go to the other side of Diagon Alley. But knowing that he'd stalled too much time in buying presents for his friends, he stopped looking at his left and right with cages of cats meowing at him and started walking straight ahead to find the sections for stuffed animals._

_As he got there, Scorpius saw a lot of stuffed animals were sold. He even found a stuffed snake on his right. He walked again until he arrived at the cats' section. There were so many stuffed cats to choose; they even came with many colours and sizes as well. His eyes wandering around the various cats (there's even a gigantic pink cat!), he finally found a group of orange cats. Now all he had to do was to decide on the size._

_He gathered all the orange cats that he could find. There were five of them. One of them was as big as a teddy bear he saw on the entrance. He decided to eliminate that one because he pitied the owl that would deliver the present to her. He imagined that the owl would think the package was too heavy and it would immediately fall before it could fly away._

_He then looked at the rest of the cats. One of them was too small; the size was as small as a key chain. He eliminated that one. And then there were three. Scorpius looked at the first cat on the left, before looking at the other two. He picked one up and started examining it to look for any defects._

_Several minutes later, he had decided which to pick. He took the stuffed cat that looked the most similar to Crookshanks and walked to the cashier. He requested the worker to put the cat inside a box and wrap it with a nice wrapping paper. After he was satisfied with everything, he paid and walked outside the shop with a smile on his face._

**-END OF FLASHBACK-**

"You've been staring at the same page for 15 minutes, you know."

Scorpius jumped from his seat on the ground. He looked to his left where the intruder was standing. It was her. "I haven't been staring. I've been reading," he said with confidence, although his cheeks were probably really red at the moment.

Both Albus and James tried their hardest not to snort.

Rose nodded slowly, not convinced at all. "Well whatever you say, you took too much time reading the same paragraph." She took a seat next to him. "Or maybe you didn't get what the paragraph was all about." She placed her elbow on the desk in front of her and rested her head on her hand. "You need help?"

Scorpius looked back to the book in front of him. He had actually read this last night. It was just a pretend. _But for what?_

He looked to his left again and saw her smiling at him, waiting for the answer. _It was just a pretend so that she would come and talk to you, wasn't it?_

He smiled at her. _No, it was because of her beautiful smile_.

* * *

_A/N: Sorry it took some time for this chapter to be done. Sorry if the flashback was too long and boring. And sorry if the ending was off. I had no idea how to end this. Anyway thanks for reading. Please review._

_Til next time.._

_P.S: My classes have started last Wednesday. So I apologise in advance if there is a huge gap between this chapter and the next._


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N: I am REALLY sorry for the lack of update. I've been busy with my assignments and whatnots. Anyway for this chapter, I'd like to thank Kathy T for the idea. Hope you readers enjoy this!_

_**Disclaimer:** Only the plot belongs to me._

* * *

CHAPTER 18

The library that night was full of second year students because there was a test coming up on the next day for them. Scorpius had already finished studying a couple of days ago, courtesy of Rose. So he was relieved that he didn't have to go around the area to look for an empty seat and study. He had had enough of the history of how magic was 10 years ago (_I already have my parents who could tell me all about it_). He needed a breather.

Scorpius sighed. _Breather, my foot. I still have to go around the library to look for that blasted book for that blasted homework._ He looked up at the tall bookshelves in front of him. His eyes were wandering from the top right-hand corner, to the bottom. He didn't even blink as he thought he might miss it.

Having finished scanning the fifteenth bookshelf that night, he let out a deep breath and turned around to find himself staring at the sixteenth bookshelf. As his eyes checked the unending stacks of books, he felt his back being tapped. Somehow glad to be distracted, he turned around.

"Hey, I found the book," Albus said in a low voice, the book on his hands.

"Great. Where'd you find it?"

"Someone left it on the table," he answered. "Come on, let's go."

Together, they went out of the full library. Once they're outside, Scorpius let out a breath as he felt relieved to leave the area just now. There were so many students that it suffocated him (_especially the body odour_).

"I wonder why they didn't cast a spell to get rid of the awful smell."

Scorpius smirked. "Maybe they're all used to it." He turned to face his best friend. "Their noses are already adjusted to the smell."

Albus chuckled. "That's possible. Now I think we have to thank Rose for asking us to study earlier with her."

The blond boy nodded. "It'll be the first that we thank her for that, won't it?"

After a few turns and stairs, they reached their destination. Still laughing, they said the password to the Fat Lady who let them in and went in to the Common Room where there were only a few students around. Most were probably in the library studying for their tests, some were in their dorms, and the others in the Great Hall having dinner.

Albus ran to his favourite sofa and immediately made himself comfortable by lying on it. "Common Room has never been this empty, unless it's after midnight." He then stretched his limbs out like a cat with a lazy smile plastered on his face. "I felt like sleeping here."

"Please no," said Scorpius, taking a seat on the ground near the small table. "We have a lot to do for the homework." He then picked up the book Albus had carelessly thrown to the table. He started flipping through the pages. "And I'm not so sure whether this book can really help us or not."

Albus reluctantly got up. "We can always Rose for help."

"Nah, I met her before we went to the library just now. And she actually threatened me not to ask her anything," he mumbled. His hand was still busy flipping the pages. "Unless you want her to hex you, I suggest we ask someone else or do it ourselves."

Albus sighed and took a seat next to Scorpius. "But she's the smartest around." He paused with a frown on his face. "Well, we can also ask the professors. But will they help us?"

Feeling a bit tired, Scorpius yawned. "They will if we ask them nicely. But we'd better ask them tomorrow. It's too late now," he said, before he let out a long sigh. "Why can I not find anything related to our homework?"

The brown-haired boy rested his right cheek on his crossed arms on the table. "Should we ask James? I'm sure he at least knows a bit about this."

"Won't he ask for something in return?" Scorpius mumbled. As he turned over a page, his eyes fell to a heading titled 'Everlasting Rose.' He muttered the title, causing his friend to look up and read it too.

"'Everlasting Rose'? I think I've heard of it before," mumbled Albus, who then fell into silence as he seemed to remember where he had once come across the two words.

Meanwhile, Scorpius busied himself with reading the few paragraphs about the rose. The more he read, the more he became interested in trying to make one. The spell was easy to be uttered, but the wand movement looked quite difficult, judging by the moving picture in front of him. As he was about to retrieve his wand for practice, Albus shouted, surprising the few people around.

"I remember," he mumbled with a grin on his face. "Aunt Hermione used to tell us these Muggle stories when we were little. One of them was called 'Beauty and the Beast' where the Beast had this rose that doesn't … oh wait." Albus suddenly stopped talking and tilted his head slightly to the left. He looked away for a few seconds before coming back to look at his friend. "It's not actually everlasting. The rose had this spell where the petals fell one by one slowly."

Scorpius blinked. "What's your point then?"

"My point is: why don't you make one of these 'Everlasting Roses'? Rather than casting a spell to make the petals fall one by one, why don't you make it in a way that the rose won't die?" Albus made a suggestion. "Once you've perfected it, you can give it to Rose. The flower you got her a few months ago must be dead already. Unless she cast a spell so it wouldn't die."

"What if she did? What's the point of me giving an 'Everlasting Rose' if she already has one?"

Albus placed his arm around Scorpius' shoulder. "It's the thought that counts, isn't it? She can't possibly chuck the rose anyway. She fancies you."

Scorpius' face turned red at the words said by his friend. He cleared his throat and looked at him. "Then, will you help me? The wand movement is kind of complicated." After he got a nod and a pat on his back, Scorpius continued, "And if you can do it first, I'd send your rose to her."

"What?" Albus said, incredulously. "You can't be serious. That's not right. She has to receive a rose from you, not me. If she gets my rose, wouldn't it mean that she accepts my feelings?"

The blond friend nodded slowly as he came to a realisation.

"She's my cousin, Scor. I love her, yes. But I don't love her like you do," he said, causing Scorpius to blush even more. Albus grinned. "Just believe in your love towards her. I'm sure you can do it. You might even find the spell as easy as answering an exam."

Feeling embarrassed, Scorpius shoved his friend none too gently.

"Both of your voices are so loud, I could hear it from my room upstairs."

Albus and Scorpius looked up at the owner of the newcomer's voice. It was James who was standing on the stairs, his right hand scratching his head.

"Why are you two still here anyway?" James asked before he yawned. He then started towards the sofa before cuddling like a baby. "It's quite late."

"Speak for yourself; why are you here all of the sudden?" Albus retorted. "Weren't you sleeping just now?"

James stretched out his limbs. "I wasn't. I was actually doing my homework for tomorrow," he answered. He turned his face to the left, looking at his friend and brother. "Was going to sleep after I finished, but I heard your voices. So I came down. What were you two talking about?"

"Remember 'Beauty and the Beast'? There was this rose the old lady put a spell on, right?" Without waiting for a response from his brother, Albus took the book on table and showed it to him where the 'Everlasting Rose' picture was shown. "The one on the book is similar; it's just eternal. So why not Scorpius learn how to make one and give it to Rose as the next gift?"

The older boy nodded his head as his eyes scanned the words and picture in front of him. "Not bad of an idea, Al." He looked up to face Scorpius. "You haven't given anything as a secret admirer for a while. This is the perfect time to do so." He then gave him a wide grin.

"The only problem is the wand movement." It was Scorpius' turn to open his mouth to share his opinion. "It's probably the most complex one I've ever seen."

James' grin got even wider, if possible. He suddenly got up from his position and slid down the sofa to sit on the ground next to his brother. "Lucky for you, I know someone who knows how to do this."

"Who?" Both Albus and Scorpius asked simultaneously.

Instead of answering, James pointed his thumb to himself with the widest grin Scorpius had ever seen on people's faces. "It was for some homework last year. Not many people succeeded, but yours truly," once again pointing at himself, "got a bit help from Aunt Hermione and as a result, I got an E!" He dramatically looked away with this proud look, before looking back again. "She was a bit disappointed but it was higher than I first thought."

Scorpius wasn't convinced because James was the type of person who liked to joke around about something related to studies. Not to mention, the grin on his friend's face. He looked like he wasn't telling the truth about him getting an E in making an 'Everlasting Rose'.

"But how come I don't know anything about this?" asked Albus to his brother.

"Because I asked Aunt Hermione to keep it a secret between the two of us. If Mum knew, she'd probably kill me for asking someone, especially her sister in law, to help me," answered James. "Aunt Hermione didn't want to help me at first, because she said I should do it myself since it's my homework. But in the end, she did as she saw how horrible I was back then."

"Then, show us," said Scorpius. "I'll conjure up a rose and you'll make it everlasting."

James smirked. "Okay. But let me read the book again. I forgot how to do it."

After a few flicks of the wands and a couple of spells from both friends, the red rose that flew from outside the window had turned slightly pink and emitted a bright glowing light. They were in awe at the flower in front of them. James was included because he was certain that he would get it wrong after a year had passed since he last made it.

"James, this is … wow," Albus whispered an incomplete sentence as he was still absorbed in the rose. "I … this is …"

Scorpius picked up the rose slowly as he thought it was fragile. "What he said." It was his turn to say a non-understandable sentence. "Wow," he mumbled as he turned the rose around on his hand.

"I'm also surprised. Didn't expect it to be this perfect." Only James was able to speak properly. "The colour and the light are the only things that show that the spell worked. Oh," he then took the flower from Scorpius who immediately looked like a kid whose sweet was stolen, "and you can't exactly peel the petals." James surprised the rest of them by trying very hard to rip off the petals.

"Wait, wait, wait!" exclaimed Scorpius, taking back the flower. "What the bloody hell were you trying to do? This rose is so perfect, I can give this to her now."

James smiled as he saw how ridiculous his friend was being. "Okay, first of all: this rose is everlasting. It won't die even if you chop off the stem." His smile was even wider when both Albus and Scorpius' eyes widened. "Second of all: you have to make your own 'Everlasting Rose'. So you'll feel accomplished and even more proud of yourself for being able to make one."

Scorpius sighed. "I know, but I –"

"Come on. If I can do it, why can't you?"

"Yeah, you're smarter than him anyway," said Albus, earning him a shove from his older brother.

"I'll help you, mate," James offered his help. "Or, you want Aunt Hermione to?"

It was Scorpius' turn to shove James who was just laughing at the antics.

"It's actually quite easy. You just have to watch out for your wand movement. Once you perfect it, your rose would look like the one in the picture," said James who then showed him the picture on the book.

"Wait," Scorpius mumbled before looking up at James. "If that's the case, I would need a lot of roses. Where would I find those? I can't exactly take a whole bouquet of them. People would notice."

"Maybe we can practise on wild flowers," suggested Albus.

James shook his head. "Nah, this spell only works on roses. You know what; you just worry about the wand movement. Finding the rose is the easy part."

That night, both Albus and Scorpius ended up practising for the wand movement. They forgot everything about the homework they were supposed to do. Thankfully it wasn't due on the next morning, or they'd be having a detention from the Professor.

Unfortunately, little did they know, Dominique was there the whole time listening to the conversation between the three best friends. She couldn't help but smile as she knew exactly what the next gift from the Secret Admirer to Rose was.

* * *

_A/N: At first, I thought the rose in Beauty and the Beast was everlasting. Then I remember the petals eventually fell one by one. That's why I made Albus like that when he remembered what his Aunt Hermione used to do to them. Anyway thank you for reading. Don't forget to review. Til next time.._


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N: I was in the mood of writing, so I decided to write a chapter on this._

_**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to JK Rowling._

* * *

CHAPTER 19

It was the same night when Dominique saw Rose entering the Common Room with her friends.

"Rosie!" she called her cousin, motioning her to come. As soon as she was close, she asked, "Where have you been?"

"Dinner," answered Rose, taking a seat in front of the older girl. She narrowed her eyes. "Why are you acting like my Mum? Did she send you an owl asking me where I was tonight?"

Dominique smirked. "No, you silly girl. I was just wondering because something interesting happened just now when you were out."

"Okay, what happened?"

She looked around, checking for any eavesdroppers. Once she's satisfied that almost everyone had gone to bed, she motioned her to lean closer. "I know what your secret admirer will give you next."

Rose widened her eyes in surprise. "What is it? Tell me, please."

She smirked again. "I can't tell you because it's a surprise, I'm sure," she said. "All I can tell you is that it's a _really_ nice surprise that you might even cry because of it. Even I want someone to give me that nice surprise."

The younger girl smiled sheepishly as she thought she was luckier than her cousin. She then laughed softly, playing with her fingers. "It must be a _very_ nice surprise."

Dominique nodded. "It might be the best one you've had so far."

That night and the next couple of nights (she reckoned it required hard work), Rose couldn't sleep properly. She kept on thinking about what gift she would get soon. She knew she wanted it to be a surprise but a little spoiler wouldn't hurt.

"Dom," she called her cousin softly one night at the library. "Can't you give me a little clue as to what it would be?"

Dominique shook her head. "No. That wouldn't be fair to him. I wasn't supposed to know about this." She looked up from her homework. "You're lucky I told you that you're getting a present."

Rose sighed in defeat. "Fine," she mumbled. She leaned back on her chair, looking up to the ceiling. "I wonder when he'll give me. It's been two days already."

"Well, it needs some complex magic," she said as she continued on her work.

Rose immediately diverted her attention away from the ceiling of the library and looked at the cousin. "So, you actually know _exactly_ what it is?"

Dominique smiled. "I even know how to make it. And it really was complex." She then paused and looked away. "Now I wonder why James never asked me how to do it."

She frowned. "What do you mean?" She gasped as she came to a realisation. "Does James know how to make this gift too?"

"Yeah, it was one of our homework once," Dominique nodded. She suddenly leaned in closer, her eyes glaring. "But you are not – I repeat, NOT – allowed to ask him. He would know that I overheard their conversation. And he would tell Albus and Scorpius about this. And later on, I would be hexed by Scorpius especially."

"Okay, I promise I won't ask any of them about it." Rose kept quiet for a full minute before opening her mouth again, "But I can't help it that I'm curious!" She immediately placed her own hand to cover her mouth for she was too loud. She looked around, bowing her head at the students whose eyes were shooting death glares at her.

Dominique shook her head with a smile on her face. "I'm sure you'd get it soon. Scorpius is a brilliant boy. He might even send it to you tonight."

"I certainly can't wait!"

Rose stayed awake in her bed for a few hours more, fully expecting that she was going to get the present that night. But it ended without her permission. She was disappointed in herself, for waiting for Scorpius' next gift until she felt restless; she was disappointed in Dominique, for giving her false hopes; she was also disappointed in Scorpius, for making her wait. She knew it wouldn't make it any better, but she somehow felt it necessary to vent her anger out at the disappointment she felt at the moment.

Rose tossed and turned in her bed for a few more times before finally being able to take her mind off her secret admirer. She had to sleep whether she liked it or not.

It was the next morning and it still didn't make Rose feel any better as there was nothing at the foot of her bed (she had a dream that Scorpius came to her room to secretly place the gift there). She sighed deeply as she got ready for her first class of the day.

"Why the long face?"

Rose immediately looked up to the new voice, immensely surprised. She didn't realise she had reached the Great Hall in one piece. "A-ah," she stuttered, her right hand at the back of her neck, a sign she was nervous. She cleared her throat. "I couldn't sleep properly."

Scorpius tilted his face slightly. "Why? Too many thoughts in your mind?"

She blushed, looking away from his eyes. "Ye-yeah, you could say that." She cleared her throat again, before starting to gather her breakfast of the day. _I have to ask him_. "Err, where have you been, Scor? Haven't seen you around, except for classes." _Good job, Weasley_.

"I've been doing work in my room these days."

Rose looked at him from the corner of her eyes; she swore he was avoiding her. She just didn't know why. "I see."

Scorpius might have detected the disappointment in her voice as he also looked up with a worried look. "No, don't take this the wrong way. It's just that I didn't want to disturb you. You look so busy helping other students every day, or should I say night. And you've been hanging out with Dominique as well." He looked down, scooping a spoonful of cream soup. "So, Albus and I have been in our room, doing our work by ourselves."

"Sorry," mumbled Rose. "If you need any help, I'm always here for you. You know that, right?"

Scorpius just nodded with a smile on his face.

_So he's been working on the gift every night. That means it really _is_ complex._ She sighed inaudibly. _I wish there was something I could do to pay for his kindness and hard work._ She stole a glance at him to find his eye bags as thick as a panda's. _Why does he want to do so much just for me? I don't deserve his love._

* * *

"Poor Scorpius," Rose mumbled when she and Dominique were in the Common Room. They were supposed to do their homework, but Rose ended up thinking again about the mysterious boy.

"What now?"

She looked up from her neglected book. "I talked to him this morning. And he looked exhausted."

Dominique smiled and kept her eyes on the parchment in front of her. "Of course he did, or does rather. I know he's been staying up late preparing for your gift."

"How'd you know?"

"I have my sources."

Rose narrowed her eyes and then shook her head. "But really, I feel like I don't deserve this gift. What if he gets left behind in his studies? I have to be responsible for that."

Despite the face her cousin was currently supporting, Dominique laughed. "Rosie, I have two things to say. One," she put up one index finger, "he's a smart boy. I'm sure he can find some time to do his homework. And two," she put up one more finger, "don't flatter yourself too much. He stays up late also because of studying."

Rose looked away; her face was now as red as a tomato.

"Besides, people do crazy things when they're in love," said Dominique, continuing her deserted work. "You deserve this because you are also in love with him."

* * *

_A/N: I realise that the ending is a bit off. I just don't know how to end it. Anyway I also realised a few days ago that I've started this story 1 year ago! You readers and reviewers have been with me for over a year already. And never complain about the slow updates. Thank you so much!_

_Don't forget to review. Til next time.._


	20. Chapter 20

_A/N: I'm really sorry for the lack of update. But now that I have a break, I'll do my best to update faster. I just hope there are still people who read and review this story._

_**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to JK Rowling._

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CHAPTER 20

"Are you two ready?"

"Why can't we just Accio the rose?"

The blond boy turned to the brown-haired one. "I've done it twice already. People might notice something weird is going on if there's another rose flying into this room."

Albus snorted. "It's already weird that a rose is flying into a bloke's room. But really, it's midnight!" He unconsciously raised his voice, earning himself a shove from his brother. "I don't think people would notice anything. They're too tired."

"And you're too noisy," James added. "Someone might hear us."

"Well if you put Muffliato, then people wouldn't hear a thing," Albus hissed.

"Well I thought we wouldn't have any more discussion."

Scorpius looked from one boy to another. "Why are we wasting time fighting over a small thing, when we could actually go to the greenhouse now?"

James sighed. "He's right. We'd better go now."

"But James, are you _really_ sure that we wouldn't get caught?" Albus asked for the umpteenth time that night. He's never been out of his dorm after curfew.

The older boy smirked. "Trust me on this, Al. I've been doing this with my friends a lot of times. And we've never got caught so far." He nodded his head frantically, trying to persuade his brother to trust him.

Albus still looked doubtful. "What if, of all nights, we got caught tonight? How are you going to explain to Mum and Dad?"

"Okay, first of all, _you_," James pointed his finger at him, "are also going to explain to them if something happens." Before Albus could open his mouth to retort, he continued, "Second, we are _not_ going to get caught. Will you please stop worrying over nothing?"

He gasped. "This is _not_ nothing!" He immediately lowered his voice. "We are going outside at midnight when any teachers, ghosts, or Prefects are wandering around the castle. Will you please tell me why I should stop worrying about this?"

Scorpius quickly closed his friend's mouth by covering it with his right hand, whereas James hit him none too gently on the arm.

"Did you really have to shout, mate?" Scorpius hissed.

Albus could only narrow his eyes at him.

"We are _not_ going to get caught," James repeated slowly so the information would go into his brother's head. "If you keep on worrying like that, we would _definitely_ get caught." He tapped him on the forehead several times. "Keep that in your head, all right?"

Albus nodded, finally giving in. He pushed Scorpius' hand away from his mouth. "So when are we going?"

"As soon as you're calm and collected."

He narrowed his eyes at Scorpius again. "I am."

"Okay, let's go then." James got up from the bed and walked towards the door, followed by Albus and Scorpius behind him. Just before he opened the door, he seemed to remember something and turned around to face his younger friends. "If someone asks us where we're going, let me handle it. Okay?"

The others nodded their heads. And off they went to the Common Room. It wasn't a surprise that it's almost empty, save for two or three students. And thankfully none of them was Rose or anyone they knew. In a slow pace (and hopefully, in a calm pace too), they crossed the big room. Just as they passed a really small group of students whose noses were stuck into their books, they heard a question coming from one of them.

"Where are you three going?"

Scorpius felt like his chest was about to burst at the sudden question. It came in a whisper, but it was just as sharp as a normal question Rose would ask him in a broad daylight.

"Calm down," James whispered at him before he turned around to see who asked the question. He widened his eyes at the sight of his older cousin, but immediately recovered from the shock and put on a fake smile. "Dom, I didn't see you there."

"Well, I like to keep myself hidden," Dominique joked, a smile on her face. "So, where are you three going at midnight?" She looked from Albus to Scorpius, and back to James.

"Taking a walk," James answered, looking calm and collected. It was as if he'd done this many times and always got stopped on the way out. "The room was too boring, so we decided to go outside."

Scorpius swore he saw her looking at him as she smirked.

"Well, just be careful. I don't want to explain to your parents just because I'm one of the witnesses here."

James grinned. "Of course, sis. We'll see you later." With an energetic (albeit a bit fake) wave to her, he grabbed his friends' arms and turned around to continue their journey to the door leading to the castle. "So far so good, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," Albus mumbled.

As soon as they were outside the Common Room, Scorpius turned to the other two. "Was it just me or did she smirk at me after James answered her question?"

James waved a dismissive hand at him. "Don't worry about it. She always does that because she thinks she knows where we're going." He then started walking; eyes checking every dark corner to make sure nobody was around. "Let's go."

Albus grabbed his brother's wrist. "Hang on, '_always_ does that'? You mean she always catches you when you're going out with your friends after curfew?"

"Well, she knows that I always go out at this time with my friends. She doesn't ask me anymore though, mainly because we've never been caught and she knows we could take care of ourselves."

"Then, why did she ask us just now?"

James turned to Scorpius. "Because you two are coming with me." He then looked at his brother, before looking at the blond boy again. "So are there any other questions? If not, we have to go now. Before anyone comes."

After a pair of headshakes from both Albus and Scorpius, they started their careful journey to the greenhouse. Since it was his first time to be sneaking out after midnight (walking back from the library to the dorm like he often did didn't count because he had an excuse that he had finished studying late), his heart was beating like a drum. His hands were all sweaty from anxiety. He swore a drop of sweat was trickling down his back.

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as they finally reached Greenhouse number 1. It took a few minutes for his heart to start beating normally.

James laughed at the sight of his two nervous companions. "Calm down, will you?" he said. "We're here. Now all we need to find is the rose."

A half hour later, they found themselves sitting on top of Scorpius' bed with the curtain drawn. This time, a Muffliato was cast on the curtain so none of the sleeping roommates would find out what they were doing. They spoke in hushed voices, just for extra measure.

"Are you ready, Scor?"

Scorpius just looked at the two stems of roses in his hands. He shook his head and muttered a "No".

"Come on," Albus started to whine. "Don't be like this again. Do you remember when you had to write her initials on a quill?" His voice started to rise. "Do you remember how long it took for you to finally grab your wand and do it?"

James smacked his brother's arm. "You really need to work on your voice when we're supposed to be quiet." He shook his head as he narrowed his eyes. "We put Muffliato, yes. But that doesn't mean you can shout at a small space like this."

Albus placed his hand on top of the spot where he just got hit by James. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry," he whispered. "But I'm serious. Scorpius _has_ to do it now because he might take an hour to contemplate whether to do it or not. And we have an early class this morning."

Scorpius sighed and grabbed his wand. "Okay, I'm ready." He gave James one of the roses and kept one in his hand. He suddenly looked up. "What's the spell again? I forgot."

James rolled his eyes and told him the spell. "Come on; don't waste any more time. I want to go to sleep after this."

"You know you can go to sleep now. You don't have to wait for me."

"And leave you here alone with Albus? No," James replied. "I'm the only one here who knows how 'Everlasting Rose' looks like. You might even end up staying up trying to figure out whether you succeeded or not."

"He's right, you know," Albus said. "So, let's go. Just do it like what we did in our countless practices."

Scorpius took deep breaths several times, readying himself. Putting the rose in front of his eyes, he closed his eyes and let out a breath again to calm himself. He opened his eyes and started flicking his wand in a complicated way as he muttered the spell. A few seconds later, he finished and immediately gave the rose to Albus. As much as he wanted to see the outcome, he looked away. "How'd I do?"

"Excellent!" Albus made a comment, causing Scorpius to look at him. "He succeeded, right?" He turned to his older brother.

James took the flower from him and nodded in agreement. "It worked!" he said as he grinned at his friend. "You did it, mate. In one try!"

Scorpius put on the widest smile as he was proud he could make something in one shot. He stared at the now-bright-pink rose on his friend's hand. He was so happy that without thinking twice, he suddenly stood up from his bed and took the rose, surprising the brothers. "I'm going to the Owlery now."

"Now?" echoed James. "But it's late. What if you get caught?"

"I won't," he replied. Before the brothers could respond, he was out of the dorm.

Less than 15 minutes later, Scorpius returned. This time, there wasn't a smile on his face as it should be after finally sending a gift to Rose. There was only a confused look plastered as the others noticed in the room.

"You're supposed to be happy like you were before you left," said Albus.

"What happened?" James asked. "Did you see something?"

Scorpius scratched his head. "I saw Dominique again downstairs." He looked at the brothers. "She actually smirked at me again when I came in." He paused. "Do you think she knew what we're doing?"

James shook his head, although he looked unsure. "I don't think so. I mean, from where would she know about it? Nobody but us knew." He then looked at his brother. "Unless …"

Albus blinked; he was taken aback by the sudden accusation. "What? I didn't do anything. I didn't tell anybody about this."

The older brother just smirked at his panicky behaviour. And they both started 'fighting' with each other, despite the confined space and Scorpius just sitting still at the head of the bed.

A few seconds passed and suddenly Scorpius had his eyes wide open again, seemingly remembered something. He immediately broke up the fight by hitting the brothers on the legs repetitively. "She was there."

James and Albus' playful fight slowly came to a stop and they both sat in their original position. With their heads tilted in confusion, they asked him simultaneously, "Who was there?"

"Dominique," he answered, before slowly turning to face them. "She was there in the Common Room when we were supposed to do that homework a few nights ago." He paused. "When we were talking about 'Everlasting Rose'."

"Are you sure?" James asked. "I mean it could have been someone else."

Scorpius looked at him with a frown on his face. "I'm sure it was her, because I remember she was sitting on the same spot as just now." He paused again, trying to remember the scene that night. His eyes got even wider, if possible. "And she was with Rose."

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for reading. Don't forget to review_

_Til next time.._


	21. Chapter 21

_A/N: First of all, my reviews have reached the 100th mark! I'd like to thank every single one of you who has been reading and/or reviewing this story of mine since the first chapter. I never thought that there are a lot of people who like this. Second of all, I was going to post this last week (I finished this quite a long time ago, you see) but something happened. So I just got time to do so now. Well, enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer:** Every character belong to JK Rowling._

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CHAPTER 21

**Scorpius looked at him with a frown on his face. "I'm sure it was her, because I remember she was sitting on the same spot as just now." He paused again, trying to remember the scene that night. His eyes got even wider, if possible. "And she was with Rose."**

"Rose?" Albus echoed. It was his turn to have his eyes widened. "You mean she was there the whole time we're talking about 'Everlasting Rose'?"

"No," he shook his head. "I saw her talking to Dominique before I went to the library. We went out of the Common Room together, but she went to the Great Hall for dinner."

Albus let out a breath. "Well, at least we know that Rose didn't hear a thing about this." He gestured at the one stem of rose Scorpius was holding.

Scorpius started biting his bottom lip as he was getting more nervous. "But that doesn't mean Dominique wouldn't tell her. I mean they always hang out together."

"She might not even hear what we were talking about."

Scorpius turned to James. "But I conjured up a rose, remember? And you cast a spell on it. Anyone would have figured out that it wasn't an ordinary spell because of the complex wand movement." He paused again for the third time that night; this time hoping that the information would get into their heads. "She could've been studying _and_ listening to our conversations the whole time."

"But how would she know that it was for Rose?" Albus asked. "It might be for someone –" he immediately stopped as he realised something. "No wait, of course it's for Rose. Everybody knew that."

The blond boy narrowed his eyes at him. "Focus!" he hissed. "The problem right now is about the possibility of Dominique knowing our plan tonight. What if she told Rose about me being her secret admirer?"

"Wouldn't that make your job easier?" asked Albus. "At least she'd know that you reciprocate her feelings."

"I'm her secret admirer, Al," Scorpius said slowly. "Nobody is supposed to know that it's me."

"Okay, for now we all have to calm down," James said, stopping his younger friends' discussion. "Let's just say that Dominique really _did_ hear our conversation back then and tell Rose everything." He looked at Scorpius. "Why didn't we hear a thing about it?"

Scorpius tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"If they really did know about this whole plan, why didn't Rose say anything to you?" he asked. "Why was she pretending not to know anything? A few nights have passed after that night, you know."

None of them spoke for a few seconds. Until Albus opened his mouth to speak what's on his mind, "Maybe she's just as shy as he is when it comes to confronting?"

James nodded. "One of the reasons, yes." He looked at Scorpius. "Maybe she's waiting for you to confess first."

"But that's impossible," Scorpius replied. "I'm still not ready yet."

"We know," James said. "That's why I said '_If_ they really did know about anything'."

"What if," Albus started but paused for a while, "Dom really _did_ know something but she didn't tell Rose?" He looked at James before looking at Scorpius. "Maybe she thought you should be the one telling Rose, not her." As he saw a nod from his brother, he continued, "I mean it's you and Rose's problem. So she shouldn't interfere in your love life."

James smirked at his response. "Albus is right." He looked at Scorpius as he nodded. "Dom is not the type of person to interfere in something that's not her business. So you should just calm down."

* * *

"Hello!"

James, Albus and Scorpius looked up at the new, cheerful voice. They were having their breakfast down at the Great Hall. Since it was still so early and they slept quite late last night, they just murmured a soft "Hey" and continued eating.

"Why do you lot look like you didn't sleep at all last night?" Rose asked as she took a seat beside Albus. She started gathering her first meal of the day into her plate. "What did you three do?"

"Homework," James mumbled.

Rose looked at him. "But you're a grade higher than us."

"So?" he said simply. "We're not allowed to do homework together if we're from a different class?"

She smiled. "No, of course you are. I'm just confused, is all." All of the sudden, she clapped her hand, surprising the three sleepy best friends. "Which reminds me." She rummaged through her bag. Not a second later, she found what she was looking for and took out a small box. Inside was a beautiful pink rose, with a bright light emitting from it. "I got this last night! From the mysterious boy!"

The others had to pretend to be impressed at the flower because they didn't want her to find out anything. "Wow!" they exclaimed, passing the box from one boy to the other before it was back to the owner.

"This is the best one I've ever got from him."

Scorpius immediately 'woke up' from his sleepiness. The compliment from the object of his affection made his heart pound faster. It made him so happy that he had a wide smile as he continued eating his breakfast.

"But what's so different about this rose?" James asked, acting as if he knew nothing about it. "Other than the colour and the bright light, it's just like any other roses out there."

Rose turned to his older cousin. "This is an 'Everlasting Rose'. I found out from the book I saw just now in the library, and it was possibly the hardest spell I've ever encountered."

Scorpius had to bow his head down because he didn't want Rose to see his ridiculous smile.

"Are you my Secret Admirer?"

He immediately looked up with a shocked expression plastered on his face. "What?" _Did I hear that right?_

"Are you going to Hogsmeade later?" Rose repeated with a frown on her face. She then narrowed her eyes, as if suspecting him for being so surprised when her question was simple. "What did you think I said?"

"Ah no, it's nothing," Scorpius immediately said, shaking his head. His heart was beating fast because he thought she knew something about his secret. With a smile that he thought was genuine, he continued, "I wasn't actually listening to anything you said just now. That's why I asked you to repeat the question." _Smooth, Malfoy_.

Rose paused for a few seconds, contemplating whether to believe him or not. "Well, you still haven't answered my question. Are you going to Hogsmeade later?"

"Oh, it's today? I didn't know that."

His weird behaviour was even more suspicious now, causing James and Albus to look up too. They were eating slowly so they wouldn't miss a single mishap from him. So they could stop him, in case he did something as silly as revealing his secret.

"So are you going or not?" asked Rose, getting impatient.

"Yes!" Scorpius quickly answered, nodding his head. He was getting scared because she looked like she would hit him if he didn't answer it properly. He laughed nervously. "I'm going to Hogsmeade later," he added just for extra measure. He cleared his throat and looked away, playing with his food. _Someone please stop me from making a fool out of myself._

"Should we go together then?"

He looked up again. This time James and Albus looked at her too.

"Come again?" Scorpius mumbled. Surely he heard wrong.

"Can I come with you?" she rephrased her question. She immediately added as she realised that the three of them were looking at her, "My friends will be busy with their homework; Dominique too. So since you said you're going to Hogsmeade, why don't we go together?" She looked away with her face starting to redden.

Scorpius turned to James and Albus, asking for help. He mouthed, "What do I do?"

James just moved his head swiftly in his cousin's direction as if to say Scorpius should just go with her. Meanwhile, Albus nodded his head in agreement.

"Err, okay," Scorpius eventually said to her after a few seconds of considering. "Let's go together." As he saw Rose looking up at him with a shy smile on her face, he added, "We haven't talked to each other for a while anyway."

She nodded her head. "Yeah, let's catch up." She then turned towards her cousins. "Unless you three already have plans?"

"Ah no!" James said a little too enthusiastically. He even shook his head to emphasise his answer. "I promised Albus I'd help him with his homework." Before his brother could retort anything back, he gave him a death glare, hoping Albus would follow whatever he's told.

Getting the message, Albus nodded and said, "Yeah I have … a few things I need help with." He immediately continued as he saw her opening her mouth, "But James said he knows how to do it, so he'll help me later."

"Okay, if you say so," Rose said with a frown on her face. She sighed before continuing on her deserted breakfast. "Too bad you two have to stay back like the others. You have to have a break too."

James and Albus just shrugged their shoulders.

* * *

_A/N: I had to cut this here because otherwise, it'd be too long. And I had no clue how to continue it either. Anyway thanks for reading. Don't forget to review!_

_Til next time.._

_P.S: Deathly Hallows part 2 is coming soon! We'll get to see all of the children!_


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N: I would like to apologise to weird-cute-n-random for not being able to post this chapter before last week's Friday. Imagination and ideas didn't pay me a visit as much as I would like them. Well, I hope you will still enjoy this._

_I would like to thank tikincloks for the idea of Scorpius and Rose going out just by the two of them. Thanks to yellow 14 as well for the idea of them kissing. It's different from what you told me, but it's still close._

_**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to JK Rowling._

* * *

CHAPTER 22

Rose woke up to find herself kicking at something that was on the foot of her bed. Rubbing off her eyes to get rid of the sleepiness, she sat up. She stopped in the middle of a yawn as she saw a small box staring back at her. She widened her eyes and gasped as she flew to the other side of the bed get the box.

"Oh. My. God!"

Her curtain was yanked open by one of her roommates. "Rose, what's with the yelling early in the morning?" she asked with her eyes closed. Rose reckoned her friend was still in her dreamland when she shouted.

"Sorry, Darla," Rose apologised with a smile. "But I got something!" She unconsciously yelled again, causing Darla to wince.

"Rose!" she whined and took a seat on her bed. She still had her eyes closed. "This something had better be good or I'll pinch your nose until it's red."

The owner of the bed grinned and shoved the box into her friend's hand. "I got something from the Secret Admirer."

Darla immediately opened her eyes open as she was one of those people who were always interested in the gifts from the Secret Admirer. Her shoulders sagged as she found out it was just another rose. "Why are you so happy that you got a flower again?"

Rose waved an index finger at her. "Don't you realise that the rose has a different colour and there's a light emitting from it? I don't think it's an ordinary flower." She quickly widened her eyes as she remembered something. "I know someone who would know something about this."

Before Darla could open her mouth to reply anything, Rose took the flower and flew out of her bed. She went out of the room and then ran upstairs. Soon after, she reached her destination. Calming herself as she was left panting for having such a workout after just waking up, she knocked on the door. Without waiting for a reply, she went in and walked to one of the familiar beds. "Dom!"

The person being called calmly looked up from the book she's reading. "Yes, Rosie? To what do I owe this visit this early morning?" She then put a sweet smile.

Rose took a seat on her cousin's bed and put the box on top of her book. "The gift is finally here!"

Dominique looked down to find a beautiful rose in front of her eyes. "Can I take it out?"

The younger girl nodded like a frantic man. "Yes, and then tell me what this is."

Smiling in amusement, Dominique slowly opened the small box and took out the flower carefully. She handled it as if it was a baby; a vulnerable, fragile item she wouldn't dare to drop even if her life depended on it.

"Wow, Rose." Finally after a full minute of inspecting it, the older cousin opened her mouth. "Scorpius did a very good job."

"Of course he did," Rose replied, feeling proud of that boy. "He always does when it comes to spells."

Dominique turned to face her. "This is amazing, you know. To think that a second year student did it without the help of a professor," she shook her head in admiration, looking at the rose again.

"So what kind of rose is this? This is not an ordinary one, I could see that."

The owner of the bed smiled and looked up. "This is an Everlasting Rose. And that's all that I could tell you. I know you're dying to go to the library after you take a shower to find out more about this wonderful flower."

Rose pouted, causing Dominique to softly laugh.

"Anyway you have to thank him properly somehow, Rosie. What do you plan in returning the favour?"

She shook her head. "I don't know," she mumbled before pausing. "Well, we can go to Hogsmeade together I guess. And spend some time with each other."

"Good idea."

"But what about James and Albus? What if they're coming with us?"

Dominique grinned. "If you tell them that your friends are too busy to accompany you, I think they'll get the idea that you want to be left alone with Scorpius."

Rose looked down as she felt her cheeks starting to feel hot.

"Aww, my cousin is going to have a date with a boy."

The younger girl blushed even more. "Stop it, Dom."

She smiled. "But you know, just a date is not enough."

Rose looked up with a confused expression. "Not enough?" she echoed. "It's already making me nervous and blushing like a tomato; and it's still not enough?" She's getting hysterical. "What do I need to do to make it even then?"

As a reply, Dominique smirked, causing Rose to become cautious. Her cousin was a really sweet girl; never got into trouble because she's more of a quiet type of person, like Albus. But when she put an evil smile like what she's doing right now, Rose knew that the idea would be ridiculous.

"Dom," she called slowly. "What is it exactly that you have in mind?" But Rose was a very curious girl, so she had to know it no matter what.

"On Christmas, Scorpius came to visit the Burrow," Dominique started. "You two went upstairs and then you gave him his gift."

As soon as she knew where this was going, Rose started blushing again. There was no way she could top the forehead kiss. It already made her heart beat like crazy. If she was the one who initiated the kiss this time, she was sure her chest would burst and she would probably collapse soon after that.

"You're not listening to me, are you?"

The words from Dominique startled her from her thoughts. She cleared her throat, pretending that she was indeed listening. "I am."

"Really? What have I said so far?"

"Err, on Christmas, Scorpius came to the Burrow and I gave him a book." She paused. "And as a return, he kissed me on the forehead."

"And?"

Rose looked down. This was the part where she didn't hear anything. So she just mumbled, "And then you said something, but I wasn't listening. Sorry."

She sighed and placed both of her hands on her cousin's cheeks so she could look at her in the eye. "Listen up carefully. Scorpius has given you quite a lot of gifts, right? When you go to Hogsmeade later, make the date as memorable as possible to both you and him."

"Okay."

"And I'm sure you're going to stop by for a drink. So maybe you could pay for him too."

Rose nodded.

"At the end of the date, thank him properly."

She blinked. "What do you mean by properly?"

Dominique smiled and patted her cheeks. "I'm sure a brilliant girl like you could think of something."

* * *

"So where do you want to go?" Scorpius asked as they had just arrived at Hogsmeade.

Rose felt relieved as it had been a very awkward walk to the destination. Every time they caught each other's eyes, they laughed nervously and looked away. At least in Hogsmeade, there was something else to look at. And the distance between them was bigger. _My heart was beating so fast, I'm sure he could hear it just now._

"Why don't we just walk around while catching up?" she suggested as she put on a smile. "Unless you want to have a seat?"

He snorted. "We just got here, Rose. I'm not that tired."

Her sweet smile turned into a grin. "Just wanted to make sure," she replied as she shrugged playfully. She then looked at him sideways. "So how are you, really?" She immediately continued as she saw him opening his mouth to retort, "Don't say fine, because you look awful, Scor. Did you even sleep last night?"

"We did," he answered as he nodded.

Rose then gave him a sceptical look as if to say "I don't believe you."

"I'm serious!" Scorpius almost yelled.

"Then why do you three look like zombies?"

He snorted for the second time that day. "Nice choice of words," he mumbled, earning himself a soft whack from his best friend. He laughed. "I guess we're sleep deprived."

She fell silent and took notice of his face closely. He looked more exhausted, even though he's still joking like usual. She felt guilty because she was one of the reasons he looked like that. "How many times have you stayed up late so far?" she asked softly.

"A few times I think."

Rose flashed him a smile. _I have to make this so-called date as unforgettable as possible_. "Well, I hope you can stay awake until we're done. I don't want to have to drag you back home. I don't think I can handle your weight."

Scorpius laughed wholeheartedly, causing her to feel much better because she had made him laugh out loud and forget about his drowsiness. "It's not my fault that you're really tiny."

She dramatically gasped and playfully shoved him.

For the rest of the day, they strolled around the area and talked about anything and everything as they hadn't chatted for quite a long time. Rose thought it was great for finally being able to talk properly to the boy. It felt like it'd been forever since they really last saw each other. She really missed this moment and really hoped that it wouldn't end.

But unfortunately it did. They had to go back to their dorm as it was already too late for students to be wandering around. Throughout their journey back, they still kept chattering and joking around. Even when they're right in front of Hogwarts, they still couldn't stop laughing at each other's funny stories.

"_At the end of the date, thank him properly."_

The sentence from Dominique earlier suddenly decided to pay a visit to Rose's brain. It caused her heart to start jumping again after she tried so hard to calm it down when Scorpius' arm accidentally brushed hers during their Hogsmeade trip just now. She had no idea why she's nervous now because 'properly' might just mean say thank you and smile, right? _What else would it be?_

She suddenly remembered what happened on the Burrow on Christmas: the forehead kiss. She inaudibly gasped. _What am I supposed to do?_

"I had fun today, Rose."

Rose immediately looked up to find him smiling at her. They had reached the stairs to the girls' dorm. She returned the smile and thought that his smile was irresistible. So she braved herself and placed her right hand on his cheek to give her a support to lean in closer. She was about to kiss him on the lips but she changed her mind and pecked the corner of his lips.

Before he could realise what she had done, she said, "Thank you," in a hurry and ran to her room. As soon as the door was closed, she sat down on the ground with her back to the door. She placed her hand on her own lips. "I just kissed Scorpius Malfoy."

* * *

_A/N: I finally watched the Deathly Hallows part 2! All I can say is that Arthur Bowen who plays Albus Severus Snape is such a cute and adorable kid._

_Anyway thanks for reading and don't forget to review please._

_Til next time.._


	23. Chapter 23

_A/N: Sorry for the almost-two-month absence. Life's been hectic (still is, to be honest). Anyway I don't know if it's good or bad news, but I think this story is going to end soon. Not sure when exactly, but chapter 25 is most probably the last one. Don't take my words yet though, I might write more._

_Well, I hope you enjoy this._

_**Disclaimer:**__ None of the characters belong to me._

* * *

CHAPTER 23

Scorpius blinked. Twice. And looked up to stare at the corner where Rose has disappeared just now. He couldn't believe what just happened. Rose Weasley, the girl he was currently in love with, had kissed him! Not on the lips like what he sometimes imagined doing (hey, he's a bloke!), but it's close enough.

His heart started pounding faster as he touched the spot at the side of his mouth. Much to his disappointment, he couldn't really remember the taste of her lips because it happened so quickly for him to respond. He just recalled that he said something to her about having fun, and all of the sudden she kissed him. And before he knew it, she ran away. He thought he heard a thank you, but he wasn't sure. His mind was a blur after that peck.

He blushed. Wouldn't it mean that she somehow liked him back? Why else would she kiss him if she only thought of him as a best friend? _Best friends don't kiss each other on the corner of the lips._ Right?

Scorpius was brought back out of his own little world by a sudden shove on the arm. He looked to his right to see his roommate who just bumped into him.

"Ah, sorry, Scor," his friend said with an apologetic smile. "Didn't see you there."

He just smiled at the retreating figure, possibly going up to their bedroom.

And then he realised something: he's standing near the stairs that led to the students' dorms. He'd been on that exact location for the past five minutes. It was where Rose and he parted ways after their small 'date' to the Hogsmeade. Where the kiss happened.

He widened his eyes and turned around to find himself staring at the number of students sitting in the Common Room. Even though there were only six people at most (it was dinner time), he still felt shocked because Rose kissed him where anybody could have noticed. He silently gasped and mumbled, "Dear Merlin, help me."

His eyes then spotted the Potter brothers on the sofa they always occupied whenever the Common Room was quite empty. Hoping not to draw attention to himself, he fast-walked towards them. As he reached his destination, he hurriedly plopped down next to Albus who looked up from doing his homework.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," James made a comment before smirking. "Well not like you don't see them here every day."

Albus rolled his eyes. "Well, how was the date?"

"Err, it was fine actually. Great, even." He then paused, looking at the burning wood in the fireplace in front of them. "We had fun, just walking around and talking with each other." He nodded and smiled at the two friends beside him. But the smile quickly disappeared. "Something … happened though."

"Good or bad?" asked Albus.

Scorpius blushed again and looked down, not daring to lock eyes with the other two. "Good." He shouldn't have said it. Once they found out what really happened, they would surely make fun of him. And they would tell Rose and she would avoid him until they graduated. Or worse, until they're all dead and probably haunting the future generation.

James narrowed his eyes at his antics. He's being suspicious. "Scor, did you do something to her?"

The blond boy blinked and looked up angrily. "Why did you assume that I did something to her?" _What is it with people thinking that it must be the bloke who has done something to the girl? Why can't it be the other way around?_ Rose had proved him right with the incident just now.

"Because you're blushing, mate," he replied. "For all I know, you might have snogged her."

Scorpius looked away, his cheeks and neck getting even redder. _I should have just gone upstairs to get ready for bed, even though it's still so early._ Now everything was out in the open, there's nothing he could do but admit. _I just have to pray that Rose wouldn't murder me for telling these two_.

Albus and James gasped and leaned in closer. "You did?"

"She kissed me," he finally mumbled after shaking his head. Before the others could ask more questions, he added, "Not on my forehead." He paused for a few seconds and gestured to the spot on his face after that. "Here."

Albus had his eyes wide open. "She did?" he asked softly. "Where?"

"Near the stairs just now."

"Where anyone could have seen?" James leaned back into his seat. "Wow, isn't she brave."

"How was it like?" Albus asked, also leaning back. "The kiss."

Scorpius turned to look at him. "It was more like a peck, actually. And she did it so fast, I couldn't do anything." He paused again. "She ran to her room after that."

The oldest boy tilted his head slightly. "I wonder why I didn't hear them coming in." He turned to his brother. "Did you?" As soon as he got a headshake from him, he looked at Scorpius. "This is weird. I mean there are not that many people right now. And it's really silent, except for a few laughs now and then. So of course we would have heard the door open."

He shrugged off his shoulders. He also wondered himself why these two didn't bother looking up when he and Rose entered the Common Room. Either they were too busy with their homework, or he and Rose were as quiet as mice (even though in reality it was the opposite). Then again, it was better for them to just be ignored because he didn't think he could handle the teasing.

"What time did you return?"

"10 minutes ago, I guess. Didn't check."

It was Albus' turn to shrug his shoulders. "I guess we're too immersed in our work," he said before continuing to do his deserted homework.

Scorpius had to fight the urge to laugh at the response. But he reckoned his friend had a point. He remembered joking around with Rose even when they're already inside the Common Room. Then again, she seemed to space out at some point for a bit. She only responded to him after they reached the stairs.

_Maybe that's when she contemplated about the action she was about to do?_

He immediately blushed at his own thought, diverting his attention to the fireplace. He hoped the others would think that the reason why his cheeks had turned red was because he's currently staring at the fire in front of them. He didn't need any mockery from anyone because he thoroughly enjoyed the date. He also liked the small peck even though it happened less than a second. Well, he would have _loved_ it if he was more aware of it.

He blushed again._ I really have to do something about this. People would think that I'm coming down with something_.

"Scor!"

The person being called blinked and turned his face to Albus whose eyebrows were raised. He took a glance at James who's smirking at the moment. _Great_. He inaudibly cleared his throat. "What?"

"It's your turn to be too immersed in your 'work'," James said, making an air quote with his fingers for the last word.

Scorpius narrowed his eyes and sent him a set of glares that he hoped they could be called as death glares. He turned to Albus and repeated his question.

"Have you finished with your homework?"

For a moment, he just blinked a few times. Then a heartbeat later, he widened his eyes, seemingly realising that he had a lot to do for Potions. He abruptly got up from his seat and ran to the dorm upstairs. He could faintly hear the brothers laughing at his antics just as he rounded the corner.

* * *

The next morning came. With tired eyes for not getting enough sleep last night, Albus and Scorpius walked down to the Great Hall. Since it was quite late, there were not that many people left in the big room. But before they got to their usual place for their breakfast, someone – _she_ – was there. Scorpius halted and pulled his friend's hand to do the same.

"Hmm, what is it?" asked Albus, with a sleepy voice. He only looked at the companion beside him, tilting his head slightly.

"She's here."

Albus frowned. "Who?" Without waiting for a response, he turned his face to see where exactly Scorpius was looking at. He then mumbled an "Oh". But unfortunately he still couldn't get why they had to stop in the middle of nowhere. He looked back to his friend. "So?"

"Do you not remember what happened last night?" he hissed exasperatedly.

The green-eyed boy frowned again, not really following what the other person was saying. "I'm hungry, mate." He pulled his hand away from Scorpius' grasp and walked towards Rose, completely ignoring the incomprehensive sentence coming out of his mouth. "Hey, Rosie."

The girl looked up from the book she's currently reading and put a smile as soon as she noticed who it was who greeted her. "Hello. You're a bit late today."

"Yeah we were doing Potions last night."

Seeing that Rose was no different from usual, Scorpius walked to where the two were sitting. He reckoned she might even forget what she did to him yesterday. He might just be exaggerating. There's nothing to be embarrassed about, was there? It was just a small peck, for Merlin's sake.

"Hello, Scorpius."

He looked up at the sweet voice. He found himself staring at her usual smile but he could have sworn it's accompanied by a blush on both of her cheeks. As he took a seat beside Albus, he replied her with his own bashful smile. _I guess I'm not the only who's shy about it._

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for reading and don't forget to review please. Til next time.._

_P.S: Anyone in Pottermore? Should we be friends over there too? ;]_


	24. Chapter 24

_A/N: As usual because of my hectic life, you had to wait for 2+ months even though I'm on my break right now. Sorry about that. Well, I still hope you enjoy the chapter ;] By the way, to LittleSuzieQ and yellow 14, your questions on why the Potter brothers didn't hear anything in the last chapter will be answered here._

_**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to JK Rowling._

* * *

Chapter 24

"I know something that you boys might think I know nothing about."

Albus and James looked up from their books to find their older cousin standing just in front of them, wearing a smirk on her face. Without waiting for their permission, the girl proceeded to take a seat on that very spot and rested her chin on her propped elbow. She stared at the Potter brothers as though asking them to respond to her sentence just now.

"Well?" Dominique prompted as time passed by without any of them conversing.

James looked away and scratched the back of his head even though it wasn't itchy at all. "Err, can you repeat what you said?"

She hung her head and sighed. She looked up. "I know something that you boys might think I know nothing about."

"And that is?" James looked confused as he tilted his head slightly.

Dominique smiled again and motioned them to come closer. Once they did, she leaned in and whispered, "Scorpius is our cousin's secret admirer."

Albus widened his eyes in shock, whereas the older brother just stared at her.

"How did you know?" asked Albus, earning him a hit from James as if telling him that he wasn't supposed to say anything. He looked at his brother, placing an angry look on his face. "What? She knew already. What's there to deny about?"

The older cousin laughed at the view in front of her. "Well, to answer your question: I had my ways."

James sighed. "How long?"

"For a while," she answered. She looked away for a moment before turning back to the two boys in front of her. "Well, since the first present actually."

Albus' eyes widened again. "That long? Was he _that_ obvious?"

Dominique smiled softly. "Come on, everybody in school knows that he fancies her. He's the perfect candidate."

"Does that mean that everyone knows that he's the secret admirer?" he muttered, just in case someone decided to eavesdrop into their conversation.

"Not sure about that."

"Does Rose know?" It was James' turn to ask. He and Albus leaned even closer.

The only girl sighed deeply. "Well…"

James hung his head. "I told him to declare his feelings. But he's too scared." He placed his chin on top of his arms that were crossed on the table in between the cousins. "So what do you suggest we do about this?"

"Nothing, I guess." Before the two boys could reply, she added, "Just let them reveal their own secrets. We don't have to join in their so-called complicated love lives." She paused. "Well unless they _do_ something about it before they turn old and grey. For now we'll just watch from the side."

The three of them started laughing at the last sentence. It felt nice talking and laughing about nothingness when all they could think about and do was to study. They all needed a break because they certainly deserved it.

"You know, I've always wanted to ask you two this question," Dominique started after they were sober. "Whose idea was it? The secret admirer."

Albus raised his hand. "But we all contributed some ideas for the presents."

"Oh, I would have thought that it was all Scorpius' ideas."

James seemed to remember something. "Before we continue to talk about this whole secret admirer matter, I have to make sure: this conversation never leaves the table, right? Because if Rose knows _everything_, it wouldn't be as much fun." As soon as he got a nod from her, he continued, "To be completely honest, he's really clueless when it comes to giving presents."

"Really?"

He nodded several times to make his point more obvious. "How many presents has Rose got from both him _and_ the Secret Admirer?" He turned to look at his brother. "Five? Six?"

"Well, the normal and the everlasting roses." Albus started counting with his fingers. "That's two." He looked up as if the ceiling could somehow help him. "Err, the inscribed quill. That's three."

"Don't forget the stuffed cat that looks like Crookshanks," Dominique helped. "Four."

James tilted his head. "I'm sure we left something." He paused before waving off his hand, indicating that he couldn't remember any at the moment. "Anyway out of everything we've listed, he only thought of the stuffed cat. Others have been either Albus or my idea."

"Well, he sort of thought about the everlasting rose," Albus said. He turned to look at Dominique. "I'm sure you know what happened when we were talking about it back then, in this very spot. Scor said that you were nearby."

The girl smiled. "You three weren't exactly quiet discussing about it." Her eyes darted between Albus and James. "_And_ you should feel lucky that Rose was still in the Great Hall. If she heard everything…" She shook her head with a frown, not liking the image at all.

They were still talking about Scorpius and his secret when suddenly the door to the Common Room made a creaking sound, signalling someone was entering the room. The three of them turned their heads to find the subject of the conversation and his crush laughing about something. They immediately looked back and cowered so they wouldn't be seen.

"Okay, like you said," Dominique turned to look at James, "whatever we've talked about just now never leaves this table. So this is a secret between us three." She looked at Albus before looking back at the older brother. "And let's pretend we didn't hear them coming in. They look like they're still having fun on their little date." She giggled softly.

Being a mischievous boy that he was, James ignored the others' silent screams and slowly got to his knees to chance a look at the couple. Scorpius was now talking to her animatedly, whereas Rose looked down with a slight blush on her cheeks. James bit his lower lip to avoid laughing out loud and sat again.

"So, what are they doing?" Albus asked.

"They're just talking – well more like Scorpius was the only one talking, and Rose was blushing."

Albus and Dominique laughed quietly.

James turned to look at his cousin. "I think you'd better go back, Dom. You know, just in case one of them decides to come here."

The girl nodded. "Okay, I'll talk to you two soon." She slowly got up and once the coast was clear, she smiled at them before casually walking to where she was before. She had to resist the urge to look at the stairs where Scorpius and Rose were currently at because it was too tempting. In the end, she succeeded and finally arrived at her favourite place to study.

Meanwhile, the Potter brothers went back to their original seats on the sofa. James, being able to see what's going on, carefully looked to his right and saw the couple staring at each other. Rose was suddenly leaning in, causing James to widen his eyes. He immediately looked away.

"Why? What happened?" Albus asked, confused at his brother's weird behaviour.

James looked up. "We _really_ have to be excellent actors." Without waiting for a response, he shook his head and picked up his book as a decoy. He suddenly heard some hasty footsteps nearing, so he whispered, "I think he's coming."

As if he could read minds, Scorpius indeed came and quickly went to take a seat beside Albus.

* * *

It was a few weeks after the date. As it was nearing the end of the year, they were all busy doing whatever homework the teachers had mercilessly given and studying for their upcoming exams simultaneously. That included the Secret Admirer whose mind was always on his studies, no matter how much he wanted to burn the books and throw away the ashes into the lake.

Suddenly there was a shout just nearby. Everyone in the Common Room looked up, some in shock and some in annoyance. It was James who later on proceeded to laugh like a maniac, causing the audience to shake their heads and go back to their own business. However, Albus and Scorpius kept looking at the older friend with worry etched on their faces.

"I think you should take a break for a few minutes," Albus suggested, patting his brother on the back.

"More like for a few hours," Scorpius mumbled. He then got the book off of his friend's hand before James started doing something stupid like throw it to the burning wood in the fireplace. "Go and take a walk or something."

James leaned his head back against the sofa. "I'd rather sleep because I'm scared that I might run into the Forbidden Forest and never come back." He paused. "No, actually that's a great idea. Then I wouldn't have to do the bloody exams. I should do that instead," he said as he made the move to stand up.

"You're mental," the younger brother made a comment and pulled his hand so he could take a seat again. "Just rest your eyes."

He sighed before doing as told and leaning his head back one more time. "I don't know why this bothers me a lot compared to last year."

"That means you're more hardworking now."

Albus, James and Scorpius looked up at the new voice. The newcomer just put a simple smile and walked off to another direction, seemingly looking for something as her head went from left to right continuously.

"Did you lose something, Rosie?" asked Albus, his eyes following wherever his cousin was going.

She then dropped to her knees to start crawling around, not really caring if people thought she was crazy. "My locket." She crawled back to where they were and hit James' leg. "Get up," she mumbled. "I have to find it or Mum's going to kill me."

James frowned in annoyance. "Now _you're_ mental." He did as he was told and in the end he took a seat on the sofa. "I don't think she's that cruel."

Rose snorted. "Now we don't know that." She sighed and turned to lean back against the sofa. "Mum gave it to me for a birthday present."

"You tried your room?"

She narrowed her eyes at Scorpius who just asked the question. "Do you really need an answer for that? Of course I have." She sighed again. "I even tried the library."

"Tried Accio?"

It was her second time to snort that day. "I'm not a very good catcher so I don't want to take my chances of getting poked in the eye."

"I'll help you then," James offered as he took out his wand from the bag on the floor. But before he could cast the spell, his arm was grabbed by his cousin. He looked to his right. "What? Don't you want to find your locket?"

"But you're not exactly in your right state of mind at the moment."

He gasped dramatically. And for even an extra effect, he placed his hand in front of his chest. "I was trying to help and what I got is an insult?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "I'm serious. What if you poke your own eye?" She let go of her grab on his arm. "Or worse: what if you Accio someone else's locket? I don't want to see people flying around because of you."

Much to her irritation, the other three laughed like there's no tomorrow. She could just sigh and shake her head. But it seemed like they wouldn't stop any time soon. And so without her consent, her lips twitched upwards and she soon followed. Even when the whole attention was on them, they didn't care because they all deserved to have a relaxed moment where they just let go.

After another half hour of chatting, Rose continued to search for her missing locket downstairs in the Great Hall. She had to find it before the exams started because she didn't think she could handle the pressure of not thinking about the lost object when actually writing the exam answers.

Meanwhile the boys continued studying since rest was now over. Albus had his left elbow propped to place his chin on his hand, James now curled up on the sofa hoping to at least finish one chapter that day, and Scorpius lay down on the carpeted floor with a book above him (he needed to do some laundry anyway).

Only five minutes later, Scorpius put down his book on his right side and looked to his left to find himself face to face with a small item with a shape of a heart. He curiously picked it up and started to check it out just in case it had a name on it. There wasn't, so he opened the small latch to reveal two tiny pictures, one on each side. He widened his eyes and got up to a sitting position, surprising Albus who was apparently concentrating on doing one of his unlimited homework.

"Sorry," he mumbled as he got a whack from his friend. He grinned sheepishly and showed Albus what he just found. "I think this is what Rose was looking for."

Albus gasped. "It is," he replied. His eyes darted to the right to see a picture of Rose, her parents and brother. On the left was a picture of the complete Weasley grandchildren, plus the Potter siblings. He smiled as the people on the pictures were waving at him.

"What's that?" asked James, who looked immensely interested because he finally got distracted from studies. He slid down the sofa to take a seat on the floor before noticing what the item on Albus' hand was. "Hey, that's Rosie's locket. Where'd you find it?"

"Right next to me," Scorpius answered. "I'm surprised she didn't find it just now."

The oldest boy narrowed his eyes as he looked at the blond one. "Are you sure you didn't hide it so she wouldn't find it?"

He scowled. "And why would I do that?"

James shrugged off his shoulders. "Oh I don't know, maybe so you could give it to her later? So she would think that you're her hero or something?"

"What are you talking about?" Scorpius looked at him ridiculously. "You're not making any –"

"That's it!" Albus cut off the childish argument as he clapped his hands once. He turned his face to Scorpius. "Keep this locket and give it to her later with another gift."

Scorpius tilted his head. "I'm not sure I'm following you."

Albus leaned in closer so nobody could hear the conversation. "You haven't given her anything for a while. So why do you want to let this chance go to waste?" He nodded his head multiple times to make a point. "You can give her a pendant or a new chain."

James suddenly grinned and tousled his brother's hair. "Al! You're in a roll, aren't you?" Seeing the confusion plastered on the other's faces, he continued, "You're the one who gave the idea of giving her the Everlasting Rose _and_ the inscribed quill. Where did you learn to be so romantic?"

Albus blushed and shoved his brother's body, only to earn himself a loud laugh. "Stop it. You're really weird today, James."

The boy who was cracking himself up was finally sober. "Okay fine, I'm sorry. Anyway, Albus is right. Scorpius should send her something if you still want to be her Secret Admirer."

* * *

_Edit: 10.12.11_

_A/N: I decided to keep it to 25 chapters. Sorry for being indecisive. So yes, next chapter is the last chapter of this story. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review ;]_

_Til next time.._


	25. Chapter 25

_A/N: This is unfortunately the last chapter of Secret Admirer. It has been fun (and not to mention, hectic as well) writing this story. I never would have thought that I would write until this far. What was once thought to be a one-shot, it is now a chaptered story ;]_

_A humongous thank you to those who have read, reviewed, favourited, put this story on Story Alert and put me on Author Alert. Another humongous thank you to those who have given me suggestions on the presents. I'm sorry if I didn't put your ideas in here, but I really appreciated every one of them. And the last, but not least, humongous thank you is to those who have been willing to wait for days/weeks/months for an update. I know I'm not very good at updating, so it really means a lot to me that there are still people who are reading my story._

_**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to JK Rowling._

* * *

CHAPTER 25

After he found Rose's missing locket, Scorpius couldn't stop thinking about it even though he was supposed to do his homework and study for the upcoming exams. He didn't know when to give it back to her, and neither did he know what to give her for a new gift (even though Albus did say to give her a pendant, but he reckoned that's not good enough). He tried asking the Potter brothers, but they declined to help him further because he had to think about it himself as this might be the last gift for the year.

He realised that he had indeed been receiving a lot of help from them when it came to presents. The least he could do to return the favour was to help them in studies. But he thought that it's not much because they were both smart; they just needed a little push.

He sighed. _I need a little walk_. He closed his book and put it inside his bag, drawing attention from his friends. Before they could ask, he beat them to it, "I'm going to take a breather." Without waiting for a respond, he got up and walked out with his bag on his shoulder.

The fresh air calmed him down a bit. It was suffocating back in the Common Room which was surprisingly full of people even if the weather outside was nice. He should have gone out sooner to study as the chance of thinking about this Secret Admirer business would be lower, as well as the likelihood to meet her.

Or so he thought.

There she was, the object of his affection, sitting under a tree with an opened book on her lap. She looked very beautiful with her hair tied up into a messy ponytail. Once in awhile, the wind blew in her direction, causing a few strands of her hair to run wildly. Scorpius had to clench both of his fists so he wouldn't just dash to her side to push the strands away.

Without his consent, she looked up to stare at him right in the eyes. She put on a sweet smile knowing who it was and gestured him to come closer. And who was he to deny the offer with a pretty view like that?

"Decided to come out finally?"

Scorpius tilted his head in confusion as he took a seat across from her. "What do you mean?" _Was she expecting me to join her?_

"Why would you want to be stuck inside the stuffy room when the weather is this nice?"

He shrugged. "I didn't know." He put on a smirk. "You could have come to get me, you know."

Rose gasped dramatically. "And leave this place when I'm already comfortable? Never."

They were soon laughing so hard, they had tears in their eyes. Scorpius had to clutch his stomach as it started to hurt. Rose was leaning against the tree on her back with her book covering her mouth, as if suddenly shy for cracking up in front of him.

After a few deep breaths taken, they stopped and were finally sober. They shared an awkward smile at each other before looking away. Scorpius caught a slight blush on her cheeks, causing his heart to flutter. It was like their 'date' all over again, reminding him of how lovely it was and how he wanted to do it again.

Well, they're alone now. And they're outside. It could be considered as a date. _Right?_

That thought made him blush. _What am I doing? I should be studying_. He chanced a look at the view in front of him, and he immediately regretted his decision because what he saw was breathtaking. And he didn't care if it's too mushy because it's true. She's just smiling at him with not a care in the world; as if they were really on a date.

He silently shook his head to clear out his weird thoughts and made the move to get up.

"Where are you going?" she asked, sounding genuinely confused. _And dare I say it: sad?_

"Err, to find a place to study."

"What's wrong with this place?"

Scorpius shook his head. "Nothing. It's just that –"

"Then stay."

He looked away for a second before turning back to her again. "But wouldn't I be in your way?"

Rose waved a dismissive hand at him. "I could use some company right now. It's been so quiet before you came." Her eyes went to the view on her left, taking a few deep breaths. "Too quiet to be honest." She directed her attention back to him. "And it's kind of scary to be here all alone even though it's still bright."

"Where are your friends?" he asked, settling in to sit beside her now instead. _Might as well get comfortable_. "Or Dom. You're usually with her."

"Well as you might have known, Dom likes to sit on her favourite place – that hidden, mysterious corner – in the Common Room. She would never budge unless there's an apocalypse happening." She laughed, staring at something ahead as if the subject of the conversation was there. "The others were already comfortable in the room, so I couldn't bother." She then raised her arms. "And now, here I am."

"Like I said before, you could have come to get me." He took a glance at her. "I would have said yes in a beat."

She smiled. "Next time, then." She turned to her friend on her right. "But I'm really glad that you're here, Scorpius."

"You should thank the students in the Common Room," he said. "If there weren't that many people, you would have been lonely here."

"Should I send an owl to them?" She giggled.

Scorpius laughed softly. "If you want more company, yes."

"I think yours is enough already."

They both suddenly blushed again. If someone was to see them, they probably would have been mistaken to be having a fever and taken to the Hospital Wing. It didn't help that Rose kept fanning her face with her hand. Her face was hot despite the wind that sometimes passed by.

The boy had to think of a topic so they would get out of this awkward situation where their faces kept turning red. His eyes went from the view on his right, all the way to the left. But he found nothing; only trees, walkway, the Black Lake, the entrance to the Forbidden Forest, and a tiny Hagrid's cabin from afar. Those topics were too boring; so boring in fact it's usually exchanged between strangers. _At least in my opinion_.

"So, have you finished studying?"

Surprisingly, Rose found a question. Scorpius had to stifle a sigh of relief.

"No," he answered. _Well it was more like a whine, but who cares?_ "I couldn't concentrate with all the noise and smell up there just now." He uncrossed his legs and straightened them out in front of him. "What about you?" He took a peek at the title of the book. "Doesn't look like you've been studying here."

Rose snorted. "I got tired looking at the same words over and over again. So I decided to read something light." She picked the book up and skimmed through the pages. "But I've read this a million times and it's not that fun anymore."

Scorpius smiled. "Of course you have," he joked, earning him a shove on his arm. His eyes suddenly caught a silver chain around her neck, reflection from the sun blinding him slightly. "You know," he looked down, playing with his fingers, "I've never known you wear a necklace."

"Ah, this?" She adjusted her top so it would be hidden like the usual. "I purposely don't show it off."

"Why is that?"

"I'm not one to do that," she answered. "And also because the locket is still missing. What's the point of wearing an empty chain, right?" She sighed, staring at the scenery in front of them. "I should have taken it off but I'm so used to wearing it. It feels empty without." She suddenly laughed as she turned to look at him. "I seem to always babble about nothing whenever I'm with you."

_I'm glad you're comfortable enough that you're sharing everything with me._

* * *

It was almost five o'clock in the morning. The Common Room was finally empty of students after hours and hours being bombarded with noises. Exam period was coming soon and they had to stay up late even if they didn't want to. They had to do well in exams if they wanted to go to the next level in their education.

Rose was alone downstairs, sitting on the sofa usually occupied by her or the Potter brothers. At last she could breathe freely and had time to herself because her friends had been bothering her to tutor her with subjects they were weak at. It's not like she didn't want to help them, but sometimes she really needed to be by herself because she also had to study.

She sighed as she rubbed her face with her hand. She was sleepy because she had been up and about, either helping her friends with the studies or studying herself. If it wasn't for Scorpius, and sometimes James, who pulled her out of the comfort of the sofa and forced her to get some meals, she might have died from starvation.

Thinking about Scorpius, her mind wandered off to her Secret Admirer. Or as what she would like to call him at times: mysterious boy. The last gift given to her was … _Wait, what _is_ the last gift I got? I don't even remember._

She stretched out like a cat and crossed her legs. She shook her head to stop herself from thinking further about Scorpius and Secret Admirer. She had to concentrate if she wanted to finish studying soon. But as she read the first paragraph, her eyes started to get heavy. To make matters worse, she even yawned. And before she knew it, she's resting her head on the armrest on her left.

A few minutes later, she faintly heard footsteps going down the stairs. Not wanting to get detention just in case it was one of the Prefects, she tried to get her head off the comfortable armrest. But she's too tired to do anything so she kept her eyes closed. She even managed to close the book on her lap and threw it gently to the table in front of her.

She could hear that someone walking towards the sofa she was at, albeit hesitantly. It was probably to make sure that she wouldn't wake up. The footsteps stopped somewhere nearby, she reckoned. Not even a minute later, she felt something warm covering up her body; most probably a blanket, judging by the softness of the fabric.

That someone sighed. "What are you still doing here?"

Rose almost opened her eyes in surprise, but she held it in. She couldn't believe that it was Scorpius who came down. _What's _he_ doing here?_

"You're supposed to sleep," he whispered as he tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear. "You're not a super human; you need some rest too."

_I know._

Boldly, he cupped her face with his left hand and started stroking her cheek. "I like you, Rose Weasley," he declared. He ran his thumb across her cheekbone. "I really do."

Much to her disappointment, the warmness of his hand left her cheek. She almost whimpered until she felt something else landed on the same spot. He just gave her a small peck that drove her heart crazy. If it wasn't for the fact that she was supposed to be on the dreamland, she might have squealed. She also tried really hard to not blush at his action.

She then heard the footsteps once more. It sounded like he was retreating to his room upstairs. Once she was sure that the door was closed, Rose opened her right eye slowly and looked from left to right to check if the coast was clear. She dared herself by opening the left eye as well before spotting a small box and an envelope on top of the table in front of her. _Hmm, what's that?_

Being a curious girl that she was, she picked up the nicely wrapped box first. She carefully opened the wrapping paper to reveal a dark blue box. She tilted her head in confusion because it mysteriously looked like … She shook her head. _Nah, it can't be_.

She released a breath she didn't know she was holding as she opened the box. It was her missing locket that she'd been looking for more than a week. She gasped as she couldn't believe that Scorpius actually found it. She really thought that she had to explain to her mother how she could lose the locket once she returned home this holiday break. She's so ecstatic that she could cry.

She then remembered that there was an envelope, so she put the locket back to the original place and picked up the envelope with a nice writing on the front that said 'Rose Weasley'. She turned it around and opened it to take out the parchment. What she saw surprised her because it didn't look like it was written by Scorpius.

_"My beautiful Rose,_

_As you most probably have known, this is the Secret Admirer (I imagine you opening the box first before reading this letter). This is our first 'conversation' and you had no idea how nervous I was writing this. I tried my best not to reveal anything that might give away my identity, because if you knew who I was, there's no point becoming a secret admirer anymore, is there? The word 'secret' is there for a reason._

_Anyway the purpose of this letter is just another present from me. I know it's not much but I haven't got the time to buy anything from Hogsmeade as we're having our exams soon. I should have been more prepared because this is my last present of the year. I mean, what's so nice about a mere letter and a cleaned locket? (Yes, I did clean your locket)_

_Speaking of which, I found it under the table in the Common Room quite a long time ago. I'm sorry for not returning it to you soon but there's a reason for that. I wanted to give you something special because I haven't done my Secret Admirer job for a few months already so I felt like it was the right thing to do. Unfortunately though, the present this time is disappointing._

_Exams are coming soon and I don't have to wish you luck because I'm sure you'll do well. You're one of the most brilliant people I know. And I'm really glad that we met here in Hogwarts. School would be different without you because you're one unique person. And not to mention, beautiful too._

_Well, I'll end this letter here because I don't know what to say anymore._

_Loving you always from afar, Secret Admirer._

_P.S: Yes, I did say 'love' because I believe that I'm in love with you. It's okay if you don't return my feelings. I just had to get it out there._

_P.S.S: I realised that this letter is not as romantic as I first expected. Sorry about that. I should make it up to you soon. Well as soon as the exams are over._

_P.S.S.S: I'm not that mean. Of course I'll wish you good luck."_

"Oh, Scorpius."

Rose bit her bottom lip as she finished reading the letter. It wasn't romantic she agreed, but it was just perfect because it came from him (besides, the presents from both him and the Secret Admirer were beyond perfect). She knew how hard it must be for him to not say anything to hide his true identity, so she gave him some points for that.

"You have no idea how much I really want to say to you about my feelings."

* * *

_A/N: 25 chapters, 48,615 words, 123 reviews, 20,460 hits, 52 favourites, 102 alerts up until this point. Wow! Without you guys, I might have stopped writing in the middle and wouldn't be able to see the huge numbers._

_Don't forget to review. And thanks a lot for reading this. I hope to see some of you on my next story/stories ;]_

_Til next time.._

_P.S: One last thank you before I go off is to the local band in my hometown whose song inspired me to write this story._


	26. Epilogue

_A/N: To be completely honest with you, I certainly had no plans in writing an epilogue because the last chapter has been on my mind ever since I started writing this story. The idea of Scorpius ending up still as Rose's Secret Admirer is already planted on my head since the very first start. But I guess some of you are wondering if they actually end up together or just stay as best friends. I always think of them as an OTP, so this is how it turns out. This is my very, VERY belated present for all of you: my Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's present combined :D I hope you enjoy._

_**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to JK Rowling._

* * *

CHAPTER 26

It's been a few years after that night. Four years to be exact. But who's counting, right?

Who am I kidding? I am.

After that night where I boldly (and stupidly) declared my feelings, even though she's asleep that time, I could not stop thinking about it. What if she was actually awake and fully aware of what I did? I told her how I really felt (or feel, rather) about her and I even kissed her forehead!

I didn't plan on doing either of that; not a bit. The plans were to just give her a blanket and the letter. After everything's done, I would go upstairs to my room and force myself to sleep because I reckon I would be nervous as it was my first time ever delivering a present as a Secret Admirer right in front of her. Even if she was asleep, I was just as uneasy.

But even after that reckless incident, I still am her Secret Admirer. Name whatever presents you can think of, I already gave her. And I can be proud of myself because the Potter brothers don't help me as much as they did in my second year. But I still go to them for advice just in case the presents are too weird.

Unfortunately though, I run out of ideas. Well of course, who wouldn't? I mean I've been a Secret Admirer for five years already, so of course this time would come. And it won't come as a surprise if the stores in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley know who I am already judging by the number of times I've visited and bought items in their shops.

Well, there is one thing that I haven't done until now. Okay, maybe three things; one is to reveal my secret, two is to admit my feeling as Scorpius, and three is to give her a proper kiss. Not on the forehead, nor the cheek. And not on the side of her mouth, either. If you still don't get what I'm trying to say, proper kiss means a kiss on her lips.

Tonight is actually a great time to do it (or all of them, really) because it just happens that Hogwarts is having its annual Christmas party tonight that is always held a week before the holiday starts. This occasion is new; it just started around two years ago. And even though I'm a prefect, we're never really told who suggested it and why this started in the first place. It's always been a wonder to all of us.

And now here I am, pouring some drink to my glass. I'm not really a fan of parties anyway. I'm the type to just take a seat at the side and observe the people who decide to take the dance floor. It's more interesting because I can see who have two left feet and who are actually good.

Apparently the Weasleys and Potters are included in the good dancer category. Every one of them is brilliant in dancing. I reckon they were once forced to take some dancing lessons when they were little. Or they're just naturally good. Maybe their grandmother taught them.

"Stop drinking, will you?"

Without me actually turning my eyes to the newcomer, I already know who it is. "Well I can't waste free drinks, can I?"

Albus snorts. "You're not the only one drinking. What if it finishes before any of us could have some?"

"If that's the case, I could always," I take my wand out of my trousers' pocket and flick it towards the drinking bowl to put more liquid, "refill it." I turn my head towards him. "Easy, isn't it?"

He shakes his head in amusement and pours himself some drink. "Can't you mingle with the others this time around?" He takes a sip before looking at me again. "You're always just sitting around every year. Why don't you dance?" He hits my arm gently. "Better yet, dance with her."

I only shake my head as a reply before turning my eyes towards the dance floor where she is currently at. Right now, she's dancing in the arms of one of our classmates who is unfortunately a bloke. She's even laughing with him, much to my disliking.

"Scor, you've been hiding your feelings for years already. Don't you think it's time to tell her the truth?" he asks in a low voice, despite the loud music. It's amazing how I can hear his response. "You can't be serious when you said that you would only admire her from afar." He pauses. "What if someone takes her away?"

I can only keep quiet at everything Albus just said. He's correct of course, and he knows it.

"You know that you're not the only one fancies her." He takes another sip of his drink. "You might have a slight advantage, but that doesn't mean that she'll wait for you forever."

"I know," I mumble before I sigh. "I'm actually planning to do it tonight."

"Do what?"

"Tell her everything."

"Great," he replies. "When?"

"When the time comes."

Albus snorts again. "Well as long as you do it tonight, I'll leave you alone." He hits me for the second time that night. "Otherwise, I'll tell Rose myself." Before he can get a response from me, he runs away to the direction of the dance floor.

I shake my head as I take a seat on a chair nearby. I turn my head towards her again, reminding me of what Albus said just now. He was right: she's not going to wait for me. What if she's actually already dating that bloke?

_Nah, she would've told me if she was._

And if she really was, school would be in a chaos. I'm not exaggerating because it's true. Students here are such gossipers that everybody will know something in a matter of seconds. Words travel faster than actions, if you ask me. When Secret Admirer first started, even the teachers knew about the rose. Sometimes it worries me; what if my cover's blown already? What if they pretend to be excited whenever Rose gets a new present?

Then again, nobody has ever confronted and threatened me. And I haven't got any impostors. So I guess I should be a bit calmer?

"You still haven't changed after all these years."

I reckon I've been dazing off for far too long because the next thing I know, the person who's been on my mind tonight is right now standing right in front of me. I immediately ignore the great pounding my heart is suddenly doing and silently clear my throat. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She snorts. "Come on," she says as she offers me her hand.

I look at the said hand before looking back at her eyes. "Where are we going?" I ask, even though I know exactly what she means.

"You never ask me to dance, so I suppose I should make the first move."

When I just stay quiet at her reply, she lets out a big sigh and takes my glass despite my protests. The glass on the table behind me, she grabs my hand and pulls me up before walking to the dance floor, drawing attention from others. At this point, my heart can't stop beating. The smirks on their faces are not helping either.

Reaching our destination, she turns around and daringly puts her hands around my neck as the song being played at the moment is quite slow. She arches her brow, asking me to do the next move if we're really going to dance.

Before I can even do anything as a response, someone from behind bumps into me causing me to move closer to Rose with my hands on her waist. I widen my eyes at the new position (we've hugged before but hugs are usually done quickly, so this is new). I can even feel her heartbeats now because of the close proximity.

Despite those facts though, she's now just innocently looking at me with a blush on her cheeks. I have to look away to restrain myself from doing something that might earn a slap on the cheek. I decide to look back to see who did it. It turns out to be Lily who mysteriously has a grin plastered on her face.

"Oops. Sorry, Scor," she giggles as she turns and dances away with her partner from us.

I turn back to see my own dancing partner currently narrowing her eyes at her cousin.

"Sorry about that," she says before looking at me. "It wasn't an accident because I saw her whispering with her boyfriend."

I restrain myself from snorting. "That doesn't mean she did it on purpose."

"Come on; she's James' sister. She's just as evil."

I shake my head as I smile at her words.

Then I suddenly notice everyone's eyes on us, which makes me realise that both of us haven't been moving at all. It must be quite a sight to see a couple who is just talking in the middle of a dance floor.

"You owe me two dances now because the song is almost over."

I can only nod because what she just said is true. _Now or never._

"Finally," she says as we start to sway, following the rhythm of the slow song. She smiles as she looks up at me bashfully. "So, mind telling me what's on your mind?"

I tilt my head slightly. "What are you talking about?"

She smiles again. "Come on, we've known each other for years. You expect me not to know when you're hiding something from me?"

"You really think I have secrets hidden from you?"

She nods as a reply. "Everybody does."

"And yet you want _me_ to reveal _my_ secrets to you?"

"If it's about me, yes."

My heart beats faster at her reply. This is one of those times where I suspect that she actually knows my secret. I quickly calm myself down because there is a small chance that what she's thinking about might be different from what I have in mind. "Well if you know that it's about you, there's no need to reveal." _Smooth._

"I want to hear it directly from you," she says. "And clarify it myself too."

I gulp. _No, that doesn't mean she knows about Secret Admirer._ "Clarify what?"

"I asked you first." She smiles. "And I think you know what I'm talking about."

_Yeah she does. _I guess I just have to be honest now because I don't think I can hide from her anymore. "You know your mysterious boy?" As I get a nod from her, I sigh and continue, "I'm him." I pause. "I'm your secret admirer."

To my surprise (_or maybe not?_), she smiles and wraps her arms around my neck. There's nothing else I can do but reciprocate her hug, even though I'm too confused to ask her anything.

"I realise that I've never thanked you properly before," she eventually says after a minute of silence. "So, thank you. I _really_ appreciate and love every gift you've given me from all these years ago."

I gasp. "You knew for that long?"

She laughs softly. "I'm sorry, but yes. I've always known from our second year." She places the side of her head on my left shoulder. "It took me awhile to believe though."

"Why's that?"

Rose looks up at me. "Don't be angry but Dominique found out that it was you ever since you gave me that first rose. She actually told me about it but I didn't really believe her." She pauses. "I thought it was someone else, but then everything made sense." When I just keep quiet, she continues, "Why didn't you tell me anything?"

"I was scared that you didn't have the same feelings."

She shakes her head as she smiles and hugs me again. "Oh Scor. Even after everything, you still didn't know my feelings towards you?"

For a while, none of us are making noise. We just sway from left to right, still having each other close. The smell of her perfume is intoxicating; I wonder why I have never noticed that before. Maybe she put more because tonight is a special occasion? _Probably._

"You know, I have a question."

"What's that?" she replies, looking up at me again.

"Why didn't _you_ tell me anything about you knowing that it was me all along?"

She looks away and sighs. "I wanted you to tell me yourself." She starts playing with the collar of my shirt. "I thought you're going to tell me after we finished our exams in our second year."

"Trust me: I still didn't have the courage to do that." I sigh. "I had to get advice from Albus just now."

She diverts attention to me again. "So I actually have to thank him too?" she jokes. "Does James play some parts as well?"

"Don't forget that you have to thank yourself because you asked me to dance first and thank Lily for 'accidentally' bumping into me."

She shakes her head and pulls me into a hug, causing me to smile. _I can get used to this._

All of the sudden, I feel a tap on top of my head. Sensing that it can't be a person doing that (even ghosts are polite), I look up to find myself staring into none other than a mistletoe. I'm not sure if I should be happy or nervous because I get to kiss her properly this time.

I think she feels that I'm rigid by the way I'm awkwardly swaying into the music because she pulls away and looks at me. "Are you all right?" She looks so worried that I have to restrain myself from laughing at her face. But that won't be the right thing to do because I'm sure that she's going to knock me out cold.

I let out a breath as I assure myself to kiss her tonight. "Rose, did you know that I have some things to be done tonight?" _Ugh, trust me to say something so stupid to her. Of course she didn't know._

"No," she answers as she shakes her head (_how many times has she done that tonight?_).

"Three things," I continue, "One is to admit that I'm your Secret Admirer which I've done already; two is to admit my feelings as myself." I pause as I take more deep breaths. Once I'm ready, I lean in closer slowly as to not surprise her just in case she doesn't want this. "And three is to …"

Finally after years of waiting and dreaming of kissing her, the time has come. It's of course much better than what I have imagined all this time. It's simple, yet passionate at the same time. I couldn't ask for a better one because this simply comes from her.

"This might sound too much for you," I whisper as we lean our foreheads against each other, "but I really, _really_ love you. It's okay if you –"

"I love you too, Scorpius," she cuts in. "Have been for a while."

**THE END**

* * *

_A/N: It's been almost 2 years since I first wrote and published this story. Thanks for (always) taking the time to read and review this. Oh and sorry if the ending is too off._

_Til next time.._


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